Things Happen For a Reason
by xXBrittanyXx
Summary: Alice lives with her abusive father and annoying older brother. School is her only refuge from her crappy lifestyle. She has a huge crush on the handsome, popular and mysterious Jasper Hale. AH Jasper/Alice
1. My only refuge

"Get up!" I heard my father shout through the door. "Get up, you lazy scum, get up!"

I jolted awake, "yes, sir, I'm coming,"

"Hurry up!" I heard him stomp away. I sighed. I got up and changed into my clothes. I looked through my meager clothes and finally found the blue jeans I wore yesterday. I also found a plain red t-shirt and quickly pulled it on. I was just putting on my scruffy black tennis shoes when I heard my father at the door again, "what's taking so long?" he shouted.

"I'm putting on my shoes, Richard. I'll be out in a minute!" I shouted back. I wasn't allowed to call him dad, not that I wanted to, but I either called him Richard or "sir."

"Hurry up! Thomas and I are hungry!" he stomped off again. I rolled my eyes. _He's so impatient, _I thought to myself.

I finished putting on my shoes and went to my dresser to brush through my short black hair. This brush was precious to me. It was my mothers' brush. She died ten years ago from breast cancer. She was my favorite person in the whole world. And apparently she was my fathers', too, because he wasn't always so harsh. He was nice, gentle, and one of the best men in the whole town.

But all the changed when she died. He's rude and mean. But mostly to me. I used to be confused, but as I got older I understood more.

I looked just like her. Same pixie-like features; the same tiny body; the same big, bright blue eyes; and similar names – Alice and Allison. I sighed again.

"ALICE!" oops. I forgot.

"Coming!" I shouted while running out my door. "Sorry, sir, my shoe…" he cut me off.

"I don't want to hear any excuses. Go make some breakfast."

"Yes, sir" I learned long ago that arguing did nothing. I walked to the pantry and got out the pancake mix.

As I turned I saw Thomas in the doorway, with a smug smile on his face. I glared at him.

"Father, Alice glared at me." His said in his disgusting nasally voice.

The next thing I knew, I was on the floor, my cheek was stinging, and Richard was standing over me.

"I _said._ Go. Make. Breakfast." He said in a deadly voice.

"Yes. Sir," I replied with the same amount of venom in my voice. I could taste the blood in my mouth. I got up, and grabbed the pancake mix off the floor, and walked to the stove.

Fifteen minute later the food was done. I grabbed a pancake, and ate it as I walked upstairs.

I went into the bathroom to wash my face, and brush my teeth. Then I went into my room and grabbed my school stuff.

I went downstairs to find it empty. Thomas and Richard were getting ready to leave. I decided to do the dishes now, so they would be done and over with.

Once I was done I heard the door open and close and I knew they left. _Finally. _I waited a few minutes so I wouldn't meet my brother in the school parking lot, or whatever.

After ten minutes I decided it was safe. So I ran upstairs, grabbed my keys, backpack, and put on my jacket.

I walked outside to the never-ending rain of Forks, Washington. I quickly locked the deadbolt and jogged to my small, blue, four-seater, Chevrolet car. It was kinda old; I think it was an mid-eighties model. Oh well. At least it worked. I've never had any problems with it.

A few minutes later I pulled into the forks high school parking lot. I'm sixteen, and I'm a sophomore.

I found a spot and got out of my car. It was January and _freezing!_ I shivered inside my jacket.

I looked up at the school. Since we just got back from winter break you could hear a lot of kids complaining. But I wasn't.

School was my one and only refuge from my crappy home, my stupid brother, and my abusive father.

I sighed in contentment as I walked to my first hour class.


	2. A new friend

-AN- sorry I for got. As much as it sucks, twilight does not belong to me. It belongs to Stephenie Meyer. And thank you to those who reviewed, you _really_ made my day. Here's the next chapter, enjoy! Also I changed Charlie's name. I realized Bella needed a father and they couldn't have the same name, so Alice's father is now Richard.

I had math first hour. Ugh. I hated math. My teacher has this droning voice that made everyone tune out after about five minutes.

I may like school but I hated most of the classes. They were so boring. And everything was so easy. Oh well, it got me away from home, so that's what matters the most, I guess.

After what seemed like hours (but was really only fifty-five minutes) the bell finally rang. The rest of the day passed in much of the same fashion. All the classes I enjoyed were _after _lunch, so my morning was pretty boring.

I walked to the cafeteria, alone. I didn't have many friends. Scratch that, I didn't have _any _friends. Thomas; or _Tom, _as everyone referred to him as; was one of the football jocks. And he fit in that position perfectly. He was rude, huge, and enjoyed watching opponents on the field suffer. Or me. He never missed a chance to torture me. He seemed to find it _fun. _It was disgusting. Anyway, he kept everyone away from me, so I had no friends. He's such a jerk.

I scowled as I got out of the lunch line and headed toward my usual table. I started scanning the room as I walked.

All of a sudden I caught the eye of Jasper Hale. He was sitting at his usual table with his group of friends. He kept eye contact with me for a second more then turned back to his friends.

Wow. He was so hot! He had honey blonde hair that kept falling into his eyes. He was tall, muscular, and gorgeous.

I sighed. He was _so_ out of my league. Plus, he was popular. You always saw him around with a big group of his friends. Not to mention, both of his siblings were popular, too. Rosalie, his twin, was beautiful and tall, with long blonde hair that gently waved to the middle of her back. She was on the cheerleading squad.

Edward, their younger brother by a year or so, was tall, slightly muscular, with messy, reddish-brown hair. He was real artsy and musical. He was friends with all of those kinds of kids.

And, they were all seeing someone. Rosalie was dating Emmett Cullen; he was huge like my brother. With short, curly, dark brown hair. He was also a football jock, and I think he and my brother were friends.

Edward was seeing Bella Swan. She was average height, with long brown hair, that went to her waist. She was new about a year ago. But she's friends with just about all kinds of people, so she's really well known. Her father, Charlie, was the chief of police in this town. **(AN- like I said, Alice's fathers' name is now Richard. Sorry for the confusion.)**

Jasper was seeing Jessica Stanley. She had light brown hair, she was short, and knew about everyone in the entire school. (Not really a big surprise as the school population is only three hundred and fifty-eight students, but still.)

Now, those kind of people are completely unaware of me, so I don't waist my time.

I had just started walking again when someone rammed into my shoulder and sent me crashing to the floor for the second time that day. A split second later my tray came crashing down… on my head! I could feel the tears well up in my eyes.

I looked up to see Thomas standing over me, with a look of fake concern on his face.

"Why, Alice, you should watch where you're going. Now you have food all in your hair." His fake concern voice turned into a voice full of disdain.

I couldn't help it. The tears spilled over. I got up and ran out of the cafeteria.

Everyone was laughing. And I mean _everyone. _Even Jasper. It felt as though my heart was breaking in two.

I kept running until I tripped and fell over. I looked around to see where I was.

I was in the forest surrounding the school. My cheek was stinging again and I felt warm liquid trickling down. I put my hand to it and when I looked at it, I saw that it was covered in blood.

I started sobbing. I couldn't believe him. Well, yes I knew he was capable of doing it, but he usually ignores me at school. Then I realized that I had started crying in front of him. That made me cry harder.

I _never_ showed weakness in front of Thomas or Richard. I realized a long time ago that they would surely use it against me in some way, shape, or form. It would be hell when I got home.

For a few minutes I just sat there, crying.

"Alice?" I heard a soft voice ask. I didn't recognize who it was. "Alice?" the voice persisted.

Then I saw who it was. Coming towards me was Bella Swan.

"What do you want?" I said in a thick voice. I wiped my eyes with my sleeves.

"I came to see if you were okay," she came and sat down next to me.

"No. No, I am not okay. My brother just humiliated me in front of the whole school; I'm a mess; and I have no other clothes to change into." My voice was a little clearer, as my embarrassment was replaced by hatred.

"_That's _your brother?" The disgust was clear in her voice.

"Barely, we're only connected by genes. And that's still debatable." I scowled.

She chuckled. "What?" I asked her.

"Your funny, but in a good way." She added quickly. "Oh, how rude of me. I haven't properly introduced myself." I rolled my eyes.

"I know who you are." I told her

"So? I was raised to be polite." She held out her hand. "I'm Bella Swan."

I smiled and took her hand. "Alice Brandon," we shook hands.

She smiled too, and stood up. "Well there's twenty minutes left of lunch. Why don't I drive you home so we can get you something new to wear, and maybe wash your hair real fast?"

I thought for a second. "Okay, but we gotta be quick. I don't want to miss art. It's my favorite class." I said, standing up, as well.

"I have that next, too. Cool." She said as we walked to her car. It was a giant truck with a rusted paint job, probably a mid-fifties model. I got in the passenger side.

"So, where do you live?" she asked. I gave her my address. It only took us a few minutes to get there.

"Would you like to come in?" I asked her.

"Yeah, sure," she shut off the car and we both got out. I unlocked the deadbolt and we walked inside.

"Can you wait here for a few minutes while I change and wash my hair?" she nodded and I walked upstairs to my bedroom.

I quickly found a clean; light blue t-shirt with fake paint splatters on it. Then I walked into the bathroom to wash my hair.

About ten minutes later I walked out of the bathroom, clean and changed. I walked downstairs to find Bella sitting on the couch reading her book.

"Ready to go?" I asked her.

She looked up startled. "Yeah, I'm ready," she stood up and we walked back to her truck.

I smiled hopefully to myself. Maybe, just maybe, I finally had a friend.

-AN- I know just a little cheesy. But I thought it was cute. Please read&review. It's not hard; just click the little green button below.

PS. Thanks for reading!!!     


	3. Crappy home life

AN – I should probably be waiting for a bunch of reviews to keep updating, but I figure that if I make more chapters then more people will read and review and whatnot, sooo, heres the next chapter.

**PS – disclaimer: I don't own twilight, steph meyer does. **

Bella and I walked into art just before the bell rang. Ms. Barmes glowered at us as we made our way to two empty seats at the back of the classroom.

"Now everyone, I want you to continue on your replicas of famous paintings. Get to work." We got up again to get the things we need for the project.

"I can't believe we got here on time," I said to Bella.

"I know right, but just barely. Stupid train." We got caught up because a train decided that _now _was the right time to come through the town. **(AN – I don't know if there's a train track in forks. But it's a small town, so I assume there is.) **So we got held up.

For the first time since we moved here ten years ago, I was actually happy. I mean, I always liked my classes but I never really had _fun. _But now I was.

During the entire class Bella and I got to know each other. I learned about her mom, Renee, and step-dad Phil. I learned that Phil was a minor league baseball player, and they lived in Florida.

I didn't tell her much about my family except that my fathers name was Richard. I also told about my mother, well, as much as I could remember, since I was only six when she died.

"How did she die?" Bella asked softly.

"She died from breast cancer. I was tested for it, and the doctors are 100% sure that I don't have it. But I guess we'll know when I'm older."

"That's so sad, I'm sorry," she looked down.

"It's alright, I've gotten used to it." I smiled sadly. She smiled back. Then the bell rang.

"I've got gym next, so I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." She said as we parted for our classes. I waved and she waved back. All we did in gym today was dodgeball, since Coach Clapp wasn't feeling well.

Then it was time to go home. I had been dreading this. I sighed as I walked out to my car. I deliberately took my time getting to my house. Luckily for me, I hit both stoplights.

But luck wouldn't stay with me for long, because much sooner than I would have liked, I arrived home. Unfortunately, Thomas was home as well.

Him being such a jerk to me now isn't as much a surprise as my father, because we _always_ hated each other. Even when my mom was still alive. Before I was born, he, apparently, really wanted a brother, but he got me instead. But I guess my fathers rudeness, rubbed off on him. So now he's meaner than ever.

I looked up at my house and sighed. I got out of my car and went inside my house. The door was unlocked since Thomas was already home. I walked in, suspicious of almost everything. He could be hiding anywhere. When he was little he was killer at hide-and-seek.

"Hello, shrimp." I heard a deep voice say from behind me. I grimaced and turned around.

"What do you want Thomas. Didn't you punish me enough at school?" I asked.

"Why, Alice, you did that to yourself. If you had been paying attention, you wouldn't have ended up such a mess." His voice had a fake note of concern. I was terrified. "And if you weren't so clumsy, you wouldn't have fallen. Also," he slapped me across my cheek. I was worried that it would have permanent damage. "You forgot to clean my room last night. Go make sure that's done." I glared at him and turned around to go upstairs. But not before I went crashing to the floor, after his fist made contact with my side. "Go clean my room!" he shouted.

"Fine! I'll go clean your damn room!" I shouted back, and then ran before he could hit me again. Ow! He hit _hard! _I got to his room and there were only about two things out of place. And I dusted two days ago so I picked those up and put them away. I ran to my room to do my homework. That took me about half an hour, then I had to go make dinner for Richard and _It _(my brother). I decided to make spaghetti since it was easy. Right then Richard got home. I quickly dished out their food and mine and put it on the table. Then I took my food upstairs.

I _never _ate with them. It was forbidden, not that I'd want to anyway. Right as I turned the corner I heard the male creatures enter the room, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I had been in my room for about twenty minutes when I heard Richard call, "Alice! Dishes!"

"Coming!" I hollered back. I went downstairs quickly so I wouldn't get in trouble. If I didn't have such quick reflexes I would've crashed straight into him at the bottom of the stairs. "Oops, sor…" he cut me off.

He cut me off. "I heard you started crying today."

Yikes. "Yes, I did, but…" he grabbed tightly onto my arm.

"No 'but's. I've told you all your life, never show weakness, haven't I?"

"Yes, sir," I was angry now, and his grip was _very _tight. My arm started to go numb.

"See, there you go." He said in his deep gravelly voice. "No weaknesses, just anger." He let go. I could feel a bruise forming. "Now, go do the dishes."

I sighed quietly and walked to go do the dishes.

Once I was done I ran to my bedroom, and lay down on my bed. I guess what he said was true. He has always taught me not to show weakness. And I normally don't cry like I did today. If I do cry, it's in my bedroom in the middle of the night. But even that is few and far in between. It's gotten much less in the past few years, because when I was little I realized that crying didn't help at all. But sometimes I couldn't help it.

Like today. I remembered how everyone laughed, including Jasper, and couldn't stop the tears that came now. I had one class with Jasper, even though he's a junior. Last year he failed biology, so he has t retake the class. I did look forward to those classes, but now I dreaded it. He'd probably make fun of me. Or, if I was lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it.) he'd just ignore me. I sighed and lay down to try and get some sleep.

But, my head was buzzing with to many thoughts to allow for sleep. So I lay there for hours.

I finally fell into an exhausted sleep at around one in the morning.

AN- ok so the last few chapters were kinda dragging, but they were to help you get to know the characters and a lot of the kinds of things Alice has to go through. And I know it's short, but since it's summer I'm able to update every few days. Don't worry the next chapters will be longer. Keep reviewing. I'll find motivation to update even faster!


	4. what I go through

**AN- thank you to those who reviewed. ok, heres a fun fact. i hadn't checked my email for _2 _days and my inbox was 28. and only 3 of them were regular emails. 25 of them were from author/story alerts, reviews and my story getting favorited. so THANK YOU!!!!! to me it seems like forever since i last updated but it's only beenone day. hmm... i have issues, anyway i'll shut up and get to the story! :) (disclaimer: i dont own twilight, i do however own thomas, richard, and the plot)**

"Ugh," I grumbled to myself. I woke up with a killer headache from all the crying and knocks to my head yesterday. Not to mention I got very little sleep.

I got up to go get some aspirin from the bathroom. When I got up I was kinda wobbly. I groaned and walked into the bathroom. When I took it I had to wait a few minutes for the pain to go away. Or at least diminish slightly. Just then I heard my brother get up. I quickly walked downstairs.

I instantly regretted this as I stopped in the doorway of the dining room. I was considering sneaking back upstairs when he looked up to see me standing there.

"Umm… do you want anything for breakfast Richard?" I asked nervously. He was usually grumpy in the morning.

"No." he grunted. "I ain't in the mood for your terrible cooking." He stood up and I saw an empty cereal bowl in his hands. They actually enjoyed my cooking, but I wasn't about to point that out. My head still hurt quite a bit.

"Oh, ok." I said softly. He just walked past me into the kitchen. Just then Thomas came downstairs.

"Yeah, we only keep you around 'cause we don't know how to cook. That's a woman's job." He laughed and got himself some cereal. Ugh! I screamed in my head. He was sooo sexist. However I remained calm on the outside and just smiled sweetly at him. He glared back. My smile grew.

He may enjoy bothering me, but I enjoyed it right back. I walked into the kitchen to make myself some toast. Luckily Richard had already left the room, so he wouldn't start bothering me. Once the toast popped I spread some butter and jelly on it, then ate quickly.

Right as I was leaving, Thomas walked into the room. _I can't believe how much he's changed, _I thought to myself. Of course we never got along. But that was always just sibling rivalry. Never anything so extreme. _I just don't know what happened,_ I sighed as I walked up the stairs to get ready for school.

I went into my room to grab a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. I didn't want to explain my new bruises to Bella. I smiled at the thought of my new friend. It still didn't seem real. _Me _having a friend. I was still smiling as I walked into the bathroom to take a shower.

The hot water helped me calm down, and helped my headache. I stood there for a few minutes longer and decided to get out. I checked the clock on the wall, and yelped in surprise at the time. "Crap," I muttered to myself.

I dried my hair, got dressed, brushed my teeth and hair, and shot out of the room in record time. I quickly ran to my room to grab my stuff. Then I bolted out the door and into my car. I was surprised when I made it to the school with five minutes to spare. _Wow, I must've moved faster than I thought. _**(AN- no she's not gaining super vampire powers, she's just really quick) **I smiled to myself and went to my math class.

I had algebra II. I was really smart so they put me in higher-level classes. If my mom were here I would have someone to be proud of me. But I don't, so I pushed those thoughts out of my mind as I walked into my algebra class. Today was just like everyday. Boring.

Fourth hour I had biology. I groaned internally. This was the class I had with Jasper. But I kept my head held high and walked into the room. When I sat down I notices that the seat next to mine was empty. My lab partner, Jasmine Nikols, was _never_ absent. Not at all within the past five years. I raised my hand. Some people looked at me curiously since I _never_ raised my hand. Hmm… Jasmine and I match in that one respect, I suppose. But, whatever, I ignored the stares and raised my hand higher.

"Yes, Ms. Brandon," Mr. Banner asked me, looking up from his papers.

"Umm… where's Jasmine? She's never absent," I asked politely.

"She moved to Illinois," he replied then went back to his paperwork. Some people started snickering, as if this fact should be obvious. I turned to glare at them. And when I mean glare I mean the only kind of glare I actually know how to do, the death glare. They looked shocked by my expression; probably surprised such a small body could hold so much anger; and a little scared. I smirked, satisfied, and turned back around. I heard whispers erupt behind me. After another minute or so, the bell rang.

"Okay, class that's enough," Mr. Banner called the class to order. He started his lecture on cell anatomy. It was so _boring._ When there was twenty minutes left Mr. Banner had an announcement. "Alright class, I'm assigning you all a take home project." Everyone groaned in unison. He chuckled. "Lighten up kids. You're not doing it alone." The atmosphere instantly lightened. "I want you all to do this with your lab partners." I frowned. I didn't have a lab partner anymore. I frowned, unless…

"Mr. Hale?" Mr. Banner called. Jasper looked up. "I would like you to move up by Ms. Brandon, seeing as neither of you have a lab partner." My eyes went wide. _Jasper _as my lab partner. This was not helping my plan to ignore him. _Dang it._ He looked kind of uncomfortable but quickly covered it, shrugged and moved up. I quickly averted my eyes.

Mr. Banner then went on to explain the project. We had to make a 3-D model of a cell. Then an essay explaining the function of a cell, and two parts inside of it, our choice, of course. (Mr. Banner's words, not mine).

Right when he finished explaining, the bell rang. What excellent timing that man has, I thought to my self as I walked to lunch. I instantly got a slight spring in my step at the thought of seeing my new friend. But then I stopped. What if she didn't want to sit with me? I frowned, but started walking again. I'll just have to find out when I get there.

Right before I go to the door, I saw Bella standing there.

I snuck up behind her. "Waiting for someone?" I whispered in her ear. She jumped.

"Alice!" she complained, "You scared me." But she gave me a hug. I was a bit startled at first. No one had really hugged me in ten years. We had moved right after my mom died so I didn't have any friends either for about ten years. After a few seconds I hugged her back. It felt good.

"Are you sitting with me today?" I asked her.

"Yeah, but can Edward sit with us, too?" I hesitated but gave in, "Okay."

She smiled, "thanks." As if on cue, Edward showed up at Bella's side. He smiled at me and held out his hand.

"Hello, I'm Edward Cullen." I shook his hand.

"Alice," I smiled. "Wait, aren't you the Hales' brother?" I asked curiously as we headed into the lunch line.

"Yes, but my fathers last name is Cullen and my mothers was Hale."

"Oh." Was all I could say. We exited the lunch line and I led the way to my table.

All in all, it was pretty good. I learned that Edward liked to play the piano, even though I knew he was musical. I spoke very little about my home life. I just said who my father and brother were. I told him about my mom, and I told Bella _more _about my mom.

"What happened to her?" Edward asked. The small smile I hadn't realized I'd been wearing slipped from my face. I looked down. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want," he said quietly.

"No, it's okay," I quickly regained my composure. "Umm… she died ten years ago, from breast cancer." I looked down.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he put a comforting hand on mine, which was lying on the table.

I smiled at him, "it's okay, and I'm fine." I looked around; people were starting to go to class. "C'mon, Bella let's get to class." I tugged on her arm playfully.

"Okay, bye Edward." She gave him a quick kiss and got up.

"I love you!" he called.

"Love you too!" she kind of squealed on the last word since I just gave a sharp tug. He just shook his head and got up to go to his class. She glared playfully at me but I just busted out laughing. She started laughing to as we went to class.

Today in art I finished my project. I was the first one to be done. "Jeez, Alice your fast." She looked at my painting, "and _good!_ Really good. Great job, Ali."

"Thanks Bella," I smiled and walked over to Ms. Barmes with my painting.

She looked it over, and raised her eyebrows. "Good job, Alice." She gave me a proud smile. "Class!" she suddenly called out, "right here is a good example of how your paintings should end up looking. But with your own pictures." I blushed, something I barely ever did. "A+ Alice. Good job," she repeated. I went back to my seat.

The rest of the day past quickly. When I got home I saw that Richard's car was in the driveway. Yikes. This couldn't be good.

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I swallowed hard. _Get a grip, _I ordered myself – it didn't help. It's not like this hasn't happened before. It's just that every time it does, he's in a bad mood from work, so he leaves early. However, every time this happened, he'd also been drinking.

Last time this happened, he broke my wrist. I had to go to the hospital, but I told them that I just crushed it in my car door. Close enough, his hand was extremely strong.

I looked up at the house. I closed my eyes. I couldn't leave. I already knew that he had seen my car. I took a _deep _breath, opened my eyes, and got out of the car. _Maybe he isn't drinking this time, _I thought hopefully.

That hope was quickly extinguished as I walked into the living room and saw beer bottles all over the floor. When I looked up, I saw Richard standing over me looking angry.

"Where have you been!?" he shouted at me. I resisted the urge to cringe and run out of the room.

"S-school," I said in a small voice. He came up and punched me in the stomach. I fell over and banged my face against the wall. All the breath _whooshed _out of me. Holy crap! That hurt! I just lay there not moving.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" he came and kicked me in the side.

"I'm not lying," I whimpered back. He leaned down and grabbed my neck. I was already having trouble breathing, and now he cut it off all together! He pulled me up into a sitting position…by my neck!

"C-can't breath!" I rasped. He let go of me and I dropped to the floor.

"Get out of my sight, you disgusting little creature!" I immediately got up to run upstairs. He hit me in the back as I ran past him. I stumbled a little but kept going.

As I turned the corner I heard him start laughing. I held back the tears as I grabbed some aspirin from the medicine cabinet. Then I ran into my room, if you could even call it that.

It was tiny. All I could fit in it was a bed and a dresser with a mirror in front of it.

I looked at myself in the mirror. There was a huge purple bruise covering my neck. That would be hard to cover up with make-up. I had a _lot _of foundation, compacts, and cover-up. I could always hide my bruises and cuts from people, they never suspected a thing. But this would be hard. But… if I wore a turtleneck sweater it shouldn't be too bad. I sighed as I looked back at my face. My lip was split, but I could say I fell.

If anyone ever asked about my cuts, I would say that I was clumsy. No one asked further questions. Nothing else looked too bad, but my stomach and side _really_ hurt. I frowned. I'd just have to be careful at school tomorrow.

I was going to lie down on my bed when I heard my father calling me to come make dinner. I got up. As I did so I winced. I hurried downstairs to make dinner. At the table I saw Thomas. He smirked at me and I gave him my world famous glare. (At least, it should be world famous). Richard saw and gave me a warning look. I winced and made dinner as fast as I could.

I wasn't in the mood to make much so I just made fried chicken and green beans. When I set their food on the table I dashed upstairs. It wasn't long enough until I was called back down to do the dishes.

I did them in record time, then I was running back upstairs to finish my homework. I didn't like doing homework but I would do anything to get out from under his gaze.

It took me another hour to finish since my head was so muggy. I decided to take some more aspirin since it had been a few hours since I last took some.

Once I had taken it I realized that I was exhausted, so I got into my pajamas and fell asleep almost instantly.

**AN- grrr... i hate that man,(but without him we wouldn't have a proper plot) and i hope you agree with me 'cause if you don't you need some serious help. we just figured out what he's _really_ like. again i made it longer so you wouldn't kill me. please review telling me how you liked it. luv ya! :) :) :) **


	5. one single tear

**AN- and here it is! chapter 5 which you have all waited one day for me to post. lol. (disclaimer: i dont own twilight! the very smart and talented stephenie meyer does!)**

When I woke up the next morning I realized that it was Friday. I groaned. I did _not _want to spend the whole day around Richard tomorrow. I probably had a concussion. I closed my eyes. There was a painful throbbing going on in my head. I couldn't go to the hospital; they'd know something was up. I sighed and got up to get some Tylenol. I seemed to always be taking Tylenol and aspirin. They were like my constant companion.

I went downstairs to find it empty. At first I was confused, but then I remembered that Thomas had football practice, and Richard had an early meeting. I smiled, no beatings this morning.

I quickly got ready for school. I went upstairs to take a shower. Then I went and picked out my outfit. I put on a brown turtleneck sweater over a white tank top, jeans, and my tennis shoes. Once I got some breakfast, I decided to head out to school.

When I got there I started looking for Bella, since I was a little early. Surprisingly, she was, too.

"Bella!" I called to her. She looked up from the book she was reading, smiled, and got up to walk over to me.

"Hey, Alice," she said then burst out laughing.

"What?" I asked confused.

"We… match," she said in between laughs. I looked down. We were! I stated laughing, too. She was wearing the same thing as me, but hers looked newer. My clothes were from good will, or from when I was younger. We started talking about different things, but then she gasped.

"Alice! What happened to your neck?"

Dang it! I was hoping she wouldn't notice. "Umm…I fell while riding my bike. I'm kinda clumsy," I told her. She frowned but didn't press the subject. We talked until the bell rang, then we headed our separate ways.

My classes were boring as usual, but I was a little dizzy all day from my probably, concussion. In science Mr. Banner reminded us that our projects were due in a week. Then he continued on his lecture from yesterday. Jasper and I only acknowledged each other by a quick head nod.

When I got into the cafeteria I saw Bella jog up to me.

"Hey," she said after giving me a quick hug.

"Hey, where's Edward?" I asked. He wasn't with her.

"Oh, Jasper needed to talk to him."

"Okay," I looked over and saw Edward talking to Jasper. Edward nodded and came over to us.

"Hi Alice. Jasper forgot to ask you in class if you wanted to come over tonight and work on your biology project," he asked me. I nodded. "Okay, let's get some food."

We got to our table and started talking. I figured out that I really did like Edward. He was good guy. I didn't do much the rest of the day.

Before I knew it, it was the end of the school day. I was driving myself home when I started worrying about Richard's reaction to my plans this evening.

I decided to make his favorite meal tonight – steak and potatoes – to put him in a good mood. I got started on that immediately once I got home so it would be almost ready by the time he got home.

I had been cooking for about forty-five minutes when Richard walked in the door.

"Mmm…steak," I heard him say to Thomas, who was apparently with him. I heard the same thing from him, too.

"It's almost done!" I called to them, and it was. I literally had five minutes. "About five more minutes," I told them, as they had just entered the room. Richard grunted in assessment. Thomas just nodded.

Once it was ready I set the table, gave them their plates and left, taking mine with me. When I was called back to do the dishes I decided to ask.

"Umm… Richard?" I asked hesitantly.

"What?" he replied.

"I have a science project, and I have to work with my lab partner. So I was wondering if I could go over to his house tonight and work on it?" I said it as a question.  
"How long will you be gone?" okay, good start. He wasn't angry at least.

"Only about two hours, I think. We only have to do an essay, and make a model of a cell."

"Fine, but only because I want you to get good grades so I don't have to pay for you college." He replied and got up.

"Thank you," I said. He just grunted. I finished my chores soon after that.

I ran upstairs to fix the make-up on my bruises and went to tell Richard that I was leaving. He was in the living room, watching South Park. "Umm… Richard, I'm leaving." I told him.

"Fine, go. Be back by nine." I was surprised that he was acting so nice. I shrugged and got into my car. Their house wasn't hard to find I just had a small issue finding the driveway. After a few minutes however, I found it.

Once I reached the end of the driveway my jaw dropped. Their house was _huge! _It had three stories, a big porch, and it was all white. _Nice, _I thought to myself. I got out of my car, walked up to the house and knocked. After a few seconds a beautiful woman with light caramel colored hair answered the door.

"Oh, you must be Alice?" I nodded. She held out her hand and I shook it. "I'm Esme, Jasper's, mother." She motioned for me to come inside so I did. Wow, the inside was even better than the outside. Esme led me into the next room where everybody was. Including Emmett and Bella.

"Kids, Alice is here," she announced. When everyone looked up, I waved. "Okay, well I have to go back and work on something for work, you kids be good," she told us sternly.

"Yes, ma'am," chorused throughout the room. When she left I went up to give Bella a hug.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"I was invited for dinner by Edward," she told me.

"Oh, okay. Well I better go help with mine and Jasper's project," I got up and walked over to him. We exchanged our hellos and got to work. It was a little uncomfortable at first, but as we got more done, we started talking about other things.

I wanted to be mad at him for the other day, but it was hard. He was just to darn funny. We were laughing and talking the entire time. I learned that he liked to play the guitar and that his favorite subject was history. I learned other things as well, but those were the highlights.

When it was about eight forty-five I told him that I had to go.

"Why?" he asked me, his musical voice made my knees weaken.

"My father wants me home," I told him. I kept the frown off my face so he wouldn't suspect anything.

"Oh, okay," he stood up and gave me a light hug. I winced slightly as he pressed against my bruises and I was a little surprised, but I returned the hug. When he pulled away I went over to say good-bye to Bella.

"Hey, I gotta go," I told her.

"You have to leave so soon?" she frowned.

"Yes. I want to stay but my father wants me home," I told her.

"Okay," she stood up and gave me a hug. After that she and Edward walked with me to the door, and I left.

I got home at eight fifty-seven. _Good I made it_. When Richard days to be home by a certain time, he means either before of right on the dot. Not one minute after.

I got out of my car and went inside. "I'm home," I called.

"Good, now go to bed," I heard Richard call back.

"Yes, sir," I answered. I was kind of surprised, but I went upstairs to take a shower. After that I walked into my room to change into my pajamas.

I had just gotten into bed when I felt that something was wrong. Richard had been too nice earlier. He normally would have said no and probably hit me for even suggesting it.

Then all of a sudden my stomach clenched in fear. This had happened before. It just hadn't happened within the past two years. I squeezed my eyes shut, dreading what would happen next.

I didn't have to wait long until I heard a soft knock on my door and someone entering.

"Hello, my little princess," I heard a gravelly voice say. I couldn't stop the tear that ran down my face.

**AN- CLIFFY! please dont hate me. i didn't originaly plan for that to happen it just did. it typed itself. BUT... i need it for other things in later chapters. don't hate me, please! i'll update tomorrow or the day after. it's summer so i have plenty of time. ALSO... if you have any ideas as to what should happen later on - i'm open to suggestions. just hit the little green button below and review! **


	6. memories from a lifetime ago

**AN- to those who asked, no. thomas does not know about what richard did. if you are expecting a lot to happen don't be to surprised when i tell you this. no not much happens, but at the same time millions of things happen. how? you may ask. well, you'll just have to read to find out. (PS- i made this longer than i had originally planned, so your lucky) (oh, and before i forget, i do not own twilight or the beautiful song, stand in the rain. steph meyer and superchick do. also, no i did not write the lullaby, i found it on the internet.) i'll shut up now.**

I woke up in the morning with tears streaming down my face. I looked at my clock and it said _1:43_. He_ hasn't been gone very long_, I thought to myself.

Thoughts of last night kept drifting into my head. Even though I kept trying to push them back, they kept coming forward.

_I could tell he'd been drinking by the smell of his breath. _NO! I shook my head angrily to try and get the images out of my head. _He kept calling me 'darling' and 'princess,' but I knew he didn't mean any of it. _The tears started falling harder now. Sometimes when he was drunk he would confuse me with my mother, like last night. So he even called me 'Allison' on accident.

But, he hasn't done anything like that for two years. I never knew why he stopped, but I was grateful. I just lay there, numbly, not feeling a thing… except hurt, all kinds of hurt, physical and emotional. He wasn't gentle at all. In fact, he hit me, right before he left. Over and over. I lost consciousness after number six.

But now I was awake. I wished I could go back to that oblivious state of mind where I didn't know what was happening, what had happened, or what was to happen. I just lay there trying to push the thoughts back as they charged forward.

Somewhere in that battle I fell asleep, for which I was grateful. For the first time in a long time, I dreamt of my mother, and of happier times.

"_Alice darling, can you please bring me the flour from the pantry?" she smiled down at me as she asked her question._

"_Yes, mama! I'll get it!" I said in my squeaky, four-year-old voice. I grabbed it and ran back to her. But on my way I tripped and the flour went flying _everywhere. _I landed on my knee and flour covered my pretty blue dress. I started crying._

_Within a few seconds I felt my mothers warm, comforting arms around me. "Shh…shh… it's okay my little butterfly. It's okay."_

"_B-but I d-dropped the flour." I sniffed. _

"_Honey there is more flour in the world. We can just buy some more. Did you hurt yourself when you fell?" she looked a little worried._

_I nodded and pointed to my knee. She leaned down and kissed it. Then she started singing the lullaby she wrote for me,_

Butterfly, butterfly, open your wings  
Fly through the garden while everyone sings  
Smell the red roses that grow by the wall  
Taste the sweet honey from hollyhocks tall  
Butterfly, butterfly, home is the best  
Close your wings gently and rest.

_I looked up at her and she smiled. I smiled back feeling much better._

I woke up again, slightly smiling. I hadn't thought of that song in years. I fell asleep again singing to myself.

_Every Saturday while making breakfast, mama would blast the radio and dance around the kitchen. Most of the time I joined her. She loved it when I danced with her. She used to be a dancer. But she gave it up in order to be a mom._

_I wanted to be just like her. When I asked her if I could go to lessons I could practically see her glowing with pride. I was three years old when she enrolled me in dance lessons. The lady at the desk said I was to young, but mama persisted and she grudgingly let me in. _

_But I turned out to be the best dancer in my age group, even though I was the youngest there. As I got older I turned out to be better than some of the girls who were a few years older than me. I was always so proud of myself, and mama was so proud of me. Even Richard was, at the time. They came to every performance and gave me flowers. They always had lilac in them, my favorite flower. _

Then the memory changed.

_I stared straight ahead; tears rolling silently down my cheeks. People kept coming by telling me they were sorry for my loss. I barley noticed them. I only thought one thing; mama couldn't be dead. She just couldn't. She had too much life in her. She was always smiling, dancing, and she was always so happy._

_Memories of her flooded my mind. I couldn't help it anymore. I broke down and sobbed. I don't know how long I sat there sobbing. But eventually I was able to stop and walk away. Away from life as I always knew it. Away from my memories. And mostly, away from the tombstone that read…_

**Here lies Allison Marie Brandon.**

**Beloved mother, wife and friend.**

**You will be remembered.**

I jolted awake. That was my worst memory; even included all the things that happened since the first day that Richard hit me.

_He had been drinking. I didn't know this, I was only six and daddy never drank, except an occasional Champaign or wine at a party. I walked in to see how he was doing. I found him sitting in his recliner with a glass bottle in his hand._

_"Daddy," I asked softly, not sure if he was awake or asleep. "Daddy, are you awake?"_

_Just then his eyes flew open. He got up swiftly and slapped me across the face. I was shocked at first. Daddy never hit me, unless he gave me a spanking for being rude or disrespectful. But I hadn't been either of those things so I was just shocked and didn't feel the pain at first._

_"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" I nodded silently, tears pooling in my eyes. He noticed. "Don't cry! Crying is for weaklings! My children will not be weak! Now go pack your things, we're moving!" I nodded and ran upstairs, the tears falling down my eyes._

There was only one memory that matched, but it was almost the same thing.

I saw the doctor come out of the room, with a sad expression on his face.

"I'm sorry. We did all we could, but we couldn't save her," he looked down. "I'm so sorry," he repeated, then turned and walked away.

I spent most of the rest of the weekend in my room. I only left to go to the bathroom. I wasn't called to so anything because Richard had a business meeting, and Thomas had a football tournament.

So the weekend was quiet. I spent my time in bed, thinking of mama, something I hadn't done for a long, long time.

Her lullaby was stuck in my head. Late Saturday night I decided to really get out of bed, and walk around. I got downstairs when I noticed that someone left the radio on, which was strange. No one listened to the radio. I stopped because it reminded too much of mama. I went to turn it off but I couldn't help but notice the song that was playing. I smiled sadly; it used to be one of my favorite bands. I heard this song a few years ago when I was…somewhere, I didn't remember when. The song was Stand In The Rain by Superchick.

-She never slows down  
She doesn't know why but  
she knows that when  
She's all alone feels  
Like it's all coming down  
She won't turn around  
The shadows are long  
And she fears if she cries  
That first tear  
The tears will not stop  
Raining down

I decided to dance to the song; I hadn't danced in so long. Right after mama died Richard pulled me out of lessons and we moved.

-So stand in the rain  
Stand your ground  
Stand up when it's all crashing down  
You stand through the pain  
You won't drown  
And one day what's lost can be found  
You stand in the rain

I let the music flow through me and I danced. I was surprised that I remembered all the moves.

-She won't make a sound  
Alone in this fight with herself  
And the fears whispering  
If she stands, she'll fall down  
She wants to be found but  
The only way out is through  
everything she's running from  
Wants to give up and lie down

I didn't just dance for any reason. I danced with a purpose.

-So stand in the rain  
Stand your ground  
Stand up when it's all crashing down  
You stand through the pain  
You won't drown  
And one day what's lost can be found  
You stand in the rain

I danced for all the pain I had suffered and all the pain I knew was to come.  
-So stand in the rain  
Stand your ground  
Stand up when it's all crashing down  
Stand through the pain  
You won't drown  
And one day what's lost can be found

I started crying as I danced because during it all, I remembered even more happier times and mama dancing through the kitchen. I remembered all the movies of her dancing.

-So stand in the rain  
Stand your ground  
Stand up when it's all crashing down  
You stand through the pain  
You won't drown  
And one day what's lost can be found  
You stand in the rain

Once the song was over I turned off the radio, the tears still pouring down my cheeks.

I sat down and started sobbing. I remembered how every time I would cry mama would be there to help. Every scrape, every bruise, every hurt, she was always there to make it better.

But she was gone now. I would never see her again. I would never see her smile, hear her laugh, or feel her hugs. I was suddenly angry; I got up and walked outside. It was raining but I barely noticed. I looked up at the sky.

"Why God!?" I screamed to the empty sky. "Why did you take her away just to leave me alone? What did I do to deserve this? Why did you take her into heaven and leave me in this hell? I need her! I need her every second but she's not here! She's gone!" I was soaked now but I didn't care.

"She's gone…She's gone…why?" I whispered. "Why is she gone?" I walked over to the back porch and broke down crying again. I didn't know how long I was there, but I kept whispering "Why?"

It was as if my denial from when I was younger caught up with me.

I was finally crying the tears I should've cried when I was only six years old.

When my life changed so drastically in such a short amount of time I could barely comprehend it.

I stayed there all night. Right before the sun set the rain stopped.

When the sun set I realized that I was freezing. There was a blanket in a cupboard right by me so I got it out and wrapped it around myself.

I sat there for what felt like forever. After many hours I saw the sun come up.

The start of a new day. New life. Fresh starts.

I soon lost consciousness thinking

If only it were that easy.

**AN- wooooow. i seriously started crying while writing this. it's so sad. poor, poor alice. but do you see what i meant about nothing and millions of things happening at once. **

**i'd love to know how you liked it. also, if you have any ideas about what should happen, i'd love to hear them. i'm not saying i'll use all of them, but i might consider them.**


	7. ruined chances

**AN- so some of you asked if i could go into jazzy's POV. but i was already two steps ahead of you. i had already planned to while i was writing chapter 6. hehe im smart and i know what you want. lol. anywho, you guys are also asking me questions about a million other things. they will be explained in due time, dont worry. **

**so this chapter you get jazz POV, so dont worry. (i dont own twilight. steph meyer does)**

I woke up after what felt like a long time. But in truth, if was probably only a few hours. I looked down at my watch. Yup, I was right. I was only 7:30.

Then I remembered something. Richard and Thomas were coming home tonight. I sighed. The weekend hadn't exactly been peaceful per say, but it was nice to get a chance to think without interruptions. I decided that I better get up, go inside, and clean the house, since Richard wouldn't be very happy if the house was a mess.

I spent the next few hours cleaning. And when I say cleaning I mean cleaning _everything._

Dusting, sweeping, laundry, and every single room. Unfortunately that also meant Thomas and Richard's bedrooms. Ugh. Those rooms were _nasty! _Ugh. I shuddered once I was finally done. I checked my watch and it said 2:12.

I then decided to make dinner early so I wouldn't have to worry about it later. I made lasagna and salad. When I finished with that I decided to go for a walk since I hadn't done anything all weekend.

On the way out the front door I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. What I saw frightened me. My eyes had bags under them; there was a nasty purple and yellow bruise on the left side of my face, and my eyes looked dead.

I had to fix that by tomorrow and hopefully this walk would do me some good.

Richard said that he'd be back around six. So I had a few hours more to myself.

I stated walking aimlessly and when I decided to pay attention to where I was I realized that I was in the forest surrounding my house. I started thinking again, but this time it wasn't about my mother or my family. It was about Jasper. I think I really liked him I just didn't know what to do. I was scared to be around him. Or any guy for that matter. _You never know what they'll do, _I told myself.

I became so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't realize the time slipping away. Before I knew it I was running back to the house because it was already 5:52.

I served their food, put it on the table, grabbed my plate and ran upstairs.

Two minutes later…

"We're home!" I heard Richard call up the stairs.

"Your food is on the table!" I called back. I decided to go take a shower since they were preoccupied.

I let the hot water relax my tense muscles. I wanted to let it drag out more, but I knew that they would be calling me down soon, so I got out, dressed, and quickly ate my food. Before they could call I walked downstairs to do the dishes. They left once they saw me coming down.

I did the dishes quickly and ran upstairs to go to bed. You'd think, that since I spent almost the whole weekend in bed and sleeping, that I wouldn't be tired. But I was exhausted. I changed into my pajamas and fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Jasper's POV)

I walked into biology. For some strange reason, I really wanted to see Alice. She was just a bug (well, little) ball of non-stop energy. Last Friday, she just had a glow about her. She was so happy.

She was a little distant at first, frankly so was I, but we quickly warmed up to each other. We had talked about loads of things. I told her that I loved to play guitar, and I loved history.

I also learned that her mother died when she was six from breast cancer. Now she lives with her father, Richard, who is a businessman and he works in Port Angeles. Her brother, Thomas (or Tom, as everyone referred to his as) was on the football team, he played wide receiver.

When she told me about him, I wanted to apologize for last Wednesday. I wasn't laughing at her. My friend, Lenny, had cracked a joke right before she fell, and it was hilarious. (The joke, not her.) I knew she probably thought that I was laughing at her.

I sighed. I hoped I would be able to apologize before class started.

And for some strange reason, I kept thinking about her all weekend. Even during my date with Jessica. We had never really been that close, but I felt myself distancing myself even more from her.

The night after I broke up with her so I wouldn't cause her too much pain. She didn't cry though. She didn't even look sad. When I asked her what was wrong she simply said, _"Jasper, no offense, but I was going to break up with you tonight, too." She smiled then walked away._ It had caught me a little off guard but I was happy.

After a few more minutes of waiting Alice came into the room. Her face surprised me. It looked… sad? But also a little dead. She also seemed to be walking slower than usual. Hmm…

She came and sat by me. I smiled and turned to give her a hug but she cringed away. She looked up at me with fear in her eyes, and then she turned her attention to Mr. Banner's lecture. I noticed that she also sat as far from me as the desk would allow.

_What is wrong with her? _I asked myself, but turned to the lecture, too. I didn't want to fail this class again.

As soon as the bell rang Alice dashed from her seat, as if she was trying to get away from me. That hurt a little. What did I do? I don't think I did anything. I walked to the cafeteria while contemplating this. When I got there I noticed that Alice was sitting alone, except for Bella.

I noticed that she was talking with her animatedly enough, but I also noticed that Edward was sitting at a different table with his other friends.

So Alice doesn't want to sit with any guys. She isn't happy like usual. Her face looks dead.

Something was not right, and I intended to figure out what.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

(Alice POV)

The next morning was the same as usual. I made breakfast, got ready, and went to school. My classes were all boring as usual, but I seemed to be more wary than I normally am.

I was walking into biology when I saw Jasper's eyes watching me with a slightly shocked expression. I ignored it and walked to my seat.

Jasper smiled at me and tried to give me a hug, but to my surprise and his, I cringed away. I looked up at him quickly then turned towards Mr. Banner. I wasn't actually listening to his lecture on the structure of plant cells, but I was pretending so he would think I was paying attention.

When the bell rang I dashed out of the room. I needed to get away. Away from the emotions I was feeling, and away from _him._ I got to the cafeteria and I immediately found Bella standing in the lunch line. I caught up to her, ignoring the mutterings and complaints from people behind me.

"Hey, Bella!" I said as cheerfully as I could manage.

"Hi Alice. What's up?" she asked me.

"Oh, you know, same old, same old," I shrugged. "Umm… can I sit with just you today? I want to have some girl time. I am the only girl living in a house with two guys," I smiled to try and lighten the mood, but internally I cringed. _Stupid thing to say, _I scolded myself, _remind yourself of how right you are. _

"Umm… sure, I'll have to tell Edward, though," we had just gotten out of the lunch line. She led me over to where Edward was. She tapped his shoulder, and when he turned around she kissed him. I hung back.

"Hi, Edward. Is it okay if I sit with just Alice today?" she smiled sweetly at him.

"Yeah, Brandon wanted to talk to me about…umm…something. I forget what," he smiled, and Bella did, too.

She turned around and whispered to me, "Boys." Edward chuckled.

"Okay, go. I'll see you later," he gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Bye Alice," he smiled at me. I smiled back as convincingly as I could, and waved as I dragged Bella over to my table.

When we got there I stated talking about random things. I didn't want Bella to notice anything wrong with me. Before I knew it, it was time to go to class. But even art couldn't lift my spirits, like it normally could.

When I started heading home, I realized that I had probably blown all my chances with my dream guy, Jasper. I couldn't stop the few tears come. I couldn't help it.

_You never know what men will do, _i told myself again.

**AN- i'm so sorry it was so short, but i have plans for the next chapter and i needed to finish this one. sorry it was kinda slow, i was suffering a bad case of writers block. sorry.**

**like i've said before if you have any ideas, i'd love to hear them. i'm kinda running low. so use your imaginations and review. **

**(PS - im thinking about writing another story of alices human life, the asylum and becoming a vampire. BUT... she can still remember some things. hmm... tell me what you think!)**


	8. girls day out

**AN- first...WE SURPASSED 50 REVIEWS!!!!! i love you guys!!!!!!**

**second, i realized that there hasn't been much that was funny and cute in this story, _so_... that's mainly what this chapter is - funny and cute. i hope it makes you laugh because i laugh cause i did while writing it! **

**also, i LOVE you ideas. but i regret to say that i can't use them. im sorry! i really want to, but i have some major plans for when jasper finds out the truth. BELLA however might find out soon though. now, if you have any ideas that i could squezze in there to make my story last longer then i'd also love to hear those! (DISCLAIMER: unfortunately i dont own twilight...or seattle. (might as well mention that lol) so i'll shut-up and let you read the story now. **

The next two weeks passed slowly and quickly at the same time. I got some new bruises, but nothing major. I got to know Bella better, and we have become really close friends. I still won't tell her how I really get the bruises, I just tell her I'm clumsy and fall a lot. She's gotten a bit more skeptical about my excuses lately, but I don't know why.

Last week Jasper turned in our science project. We had gotten it mostly done when I was at his house, so I guess he finished it. I thanked him, and that was the last thing I said to him since.

We also got the best grade in the class. You couldn't even tell that Mike Newton and his partner's was supposed to be a cell unless they told you. Needless to say they flunked. And they were the only ones to do so. Everyone else got decent grades, C's and B's.

Today Bella and I were going shopping with Jasper's sister Rosalie. Rosalie and Bella were already good friends before I "stole" Bella, (quote from Rosalie while we were joking around.) So Rosalie started sitting with us last week because her friends were starting to get on her nerves. So we got to know each other.

"_So Alice, do you like to shop?" Rosalie asked me yesterday at lunch. _

"_Oh, I _love_ to shop! My mom used to take me when I was little but I haven't been able to go in forever since my dad doesn't make a lot of money." This was kinda true. We weren't rich but he was always spending things on Thomas. He only spent a bare minimum on me. I would have lots of money from my mom's will, but I'm technically still a minor. Stupid laws. _

"_Well, why don't you come with me and Bella tomorrow?" she smiled at me._

_Hmm…Richard and Thomas were going to one of Richard's friend's weddings so they would be gone all weekend. I smiled back at the convenient way things had turned out. "Sure, I'd love to come," I was actually starting to feel happy for the first time in weeks. All of a sudden my smile dropped. "Umm…I don't have any money to bring," I mumbled with my head down. _

"_Oh, that's fine! I'll pay. My dad said that it'd be fine since I haven't been in a while," I started smiling again. _

"_Thanks Rose," and I meant it. I knew arguing would get me nowhere with Rosalie. _

"_Think nothing of it. Now do you know anything about stores? I don't want to go with an amateur," she smiled though so I knew she was kidding. _

"_Yes, I know clothes. I could tell you all about what store owners are going to put up for next season, and the next," I smiled knowingly. Rosalie and Bella stared laughing and I joined in, too. _**(AN- sorry I had to put some of Alice's **_**intuition**_** in here. Lol) **

So today I was going to have a girls day out for the first time in years. I wanted to look nice for going to the mall, so I put on my only white Abercrombie shirt, and dark blue skinny jeans, topped of with (or bottomed off with) my white ballet flats. I checked my make-up in the mirror, grabbed my purse and hoodie, and went to wait outside. Rosalie was picking Bella and I up at our houses, since we both have old cars. Rosalie however has the most gorgeous, shiny, red M3 BMW convertible.

I only had to wait a few minutes for her to pull up. "Hey, guys!" I greeted them happily.

"Hi," they both said at the same time. We started cracking up. We were going to Seattle since Port Angeles had terrible shopping. The drive took us about two hours, but that's why we left early. Rosalie left the hood down since it was finally sunny outside.

We talked about our favorite stores and clothes the whole way there. Apparently Bella hates shopping, but she was coming because she needed new clothes. I started laughing at that. I would make sure to get her much better clothes, though I really can't complain about her fashion sense. Oh well!

It was about 9:30 so the mall was just opening. Rosalie looked over at me with a secretive/serious face.

"Okay, we have a top secret mission Alice," Rosalie said like a secret spy. I held back my laughter, and tried to keep a straight face. "We must get Bella better clothes and hopefully save what's left of her fashion sense. Kapeesh?" she looked at me with a serious look to her face, but I saw the mischievous glint in her eyes. Bella just rolled her eyes in the back seat.

I kept my face solemn as I nodded. "Kapeesh," I held my hand, palm-down, in front of me. Rosalie put her hand on top of mine. "1-2-3 Break!" we shouted at the same time. We bursted out laughing.

"Okay, okay, let's stop making fun at my expense. Let's go," Bella said though she was smiling.

"But Bella," Rosalie fake whined.

"It's so much fun," I finished. That brought on a whole new round of giggles, but this time Bella joined in. However, despite our "whining" we got out of the car and headed to the entrance.

Right when we got in we headed straight to the first clothing store we found, JC Penny.

Turns out Bella really did need help with her fashion sense. She started looking at the most hideous clothes. Ugh. It was terrible. Rose and I ended up choosing 99% of the clothes she got/ tried on. The other 1% she was actually able to choose herself.

At about twelve we were getting hungry and our arms were hurting from out bags. We decided to go drop our things at the car and then get food. As we were walking back to the car we noticed people who were just arriving staring at the _many_ bags that we had. We just giggled and kept walking.

It took us a little while to figure out how to fit the bags in the trunk.

"Umm… how are we supposed to do this?" I asked Rosalie.

"Uh…I don't know," she looked flustered. "Bella! Help!" Rosalie suddenly called to Bella, who was just standing there with a look of intense concentration on her face.

"Okay! Jeez, calm down. Umm… okay. Let's try taking some clothes out of these bags, and buddying them up with other clothes," she smiled at her cleverness, while we just stared at her, dumbfounded. "What?" she asked defensively.

"You choose now to be smart with this kind of thing?" Rosalie asked her while I started doing what Bella suggested. Bella just shrugged and started helping me. Rosalie huffed and helped, too. After a few minute we got them all to fit, with still some space left over.

"Okay, who's hungry?" Rosalie asked in a loud voice, kinda like a teacher, so Bella and I raised our hands like students. Rosalie just rolled her eyes and linked arms with us, as we walked back towards the food court. This time around people also stared, but it wasn't because we were carrying so many bags.

Rosalie chuckled. "Wow, there are a lot of guys in this mall who think we're hot," she kept laughing.

"How do you know? They're mainly staring at you anyway," Bella replied.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure dear Isabella. You and Alice are getting your fair amount of stares yourselves. But, I do admit that I am getting far more than either of you," she smiled smugly. Bella and I both slapped her on the arm at the same time.

"Ow!" she exclaimed. "Some security guard is gonna see and arrest you. Plus, that hurt," she fake sniffed and wiped an imaginary tear from her eyes.

"You are such a dork," I told her right as we got into the line for subway.

"Alice, what do you want?" Bella asked me, I told her what I wanted and then went to go find some seats. It took them about twenty minutes to get done. Once I saw them coming towards me, I lay my head down on my arms and pretended to be asleep.

"ALICE!" Rosalie yelled in my ear.

"OW! That was loud," I looked up at her indignantly as they sat down. "Plus, you took too long. You can't blame me for pretending to sleep, so you would notice the poor, food-deprived girl you kept waiting for so long," I looked up at her innocently, when my stomach grumbled. "See?" I exclaimed.

"And you say _I'm_ the dork," Rosalie told me as we started eating.

The rest of the day was really fun. We got a few more things but had to go at four Rosalie said that her mom wanted her home by sixish.

The trip up here seemed to take forever but the ride back seemed to take no time at all. When we got there I saw Esme open the door with a smile on her face.

"Hello, girls. How was your day?" she came up and gave each of us a hug.

"It was really fun, mom," Rosalie said with a smile.

"Well, that's good. I'm glad you had fun. I'll go get Carlisle and Edward to help with the bags," she left to go get them while we started grabbing our bags to bring them inside. I was going to leave them in the car because I still had to go home but Rosalie said, "Are you going to spend the night, too? Bella is," she asked.

"Sure, if it's okay with you."

"Yay!" she smiled hugely while I grabbed some of my bags. After a few minutes the guys came out to help us, and after that it was only a few trips upstairs to get everything up.

"Jeez, you girls got a lot of clothes," Edward complained as he walked back downstairs for dinner.

"Baby!" Rose called back to him. I heard him chuckle from down the hall.

We started putting some of Rosalie's clothes away when we were called down for dinner. At the bottom of the stairs was a good-looking, tall, blonde man. I assumed him to be Carlisle, Rose's father. "Hi dad," Rose smiled.

"Hey, Rosie," he hugged her. "Alice, this is my dad Carlisle, you haven't met him yet because last time you were here he was at work," she introduced.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello, Alice. It's nice to meet you," he said as he shook my hand. We walked into the dining room, where there was a pot roast, baked potato, and green beans on the table.

Dinner was a fun affair. We talked, laughed and just had a good time.

"Alice are you staying the nigh, dear?" Esme asked me as she was clearing the table.

"Yes, is that alright?" I asked.

"Oh, it's fine, I was just making sure," she smiled warmly at me.

"Okay," I smiled back and walked upstairs after Bella and Rose. We spent the rest of the night (and part of the morning) talking, laughing and annoying the guys. More than once they came in telling us to shut-up. They gave up at around midnight. It was 3:30 when we were too tired to keep going, so Bella and I went to the guest bedrooms down the hall.

I walked in and halted in the doorway. It was _huge. _It had a queen-sized bed on one wall, a giant dresser on the other, a small walk-in closet and a small bathroom in it.

"Holy crap, can this place get any bigger?" I asked to no one in particular. I went over to one of my numerous bags and got out a pair of new light-purple pajamas. I put them on and got into bed.

I had just turned off the light when I heard a knock on the door. "Yes? Rose is that you?" I asked.

The door opened and I heard a deeper voice say, "No, it's not Rosalie. But, Alice? I need to talk to you," and in walked none other than Jasper Hale.

**AN- muahahahaha!! CLIFFY! i love those. hehe. anywho... any guesses about what he wants to talk about? if you guess right i'll tell everyone right before the next chapter.(at the top) hehe. we'll have a contest. so review and if you get it right you get recognition! sorry i cant give you a real prize :( oh well... review! xoxo**


	9. first kiss

**AN - first thing...contest winner! **

**1st PLACE - sleeplessjesusfreak! (even tho you were only half right) he comment-  
_Okay, I'm going to guess what Jasper wants to talk about!  
He's going to guess correctly about how Alice gets her bruises/injuries and confess to her that he really likes/cares about her.  
Am I right? I am right aren't I? C(:  
Please update soon!_**

**2nd PLACE -_ im thinking that he wants 2 talk about why she cringed when he hugged her. good story!  
Hannah 2_ (you were kinda right)**

**HONERABLE MENTION - (i really hope you were just joking, but your comment made me laugh.) -_He's going to announce that they can never be more than friends because he's secretly in love with a goldfish/llama/chihuaha cross named Fuzzygoldyapper. And that he knows that all her bruises come from her abusive cat, Saber. And that she's a $.  
OH! And that his sister is secretly an alpaca who's come to ruin his life._**

**i am a little disapointed that so few of you participated, but oh well (*sighs*) anywho... i dont own twilight, blah blah blah. now you get to figure out how everyone did!!!!!!! :) :) :)**

**(PS: i notice that a lot of you like threatening me....HOW RUDE! i like cliffy's (when im writing them at least lol) so deal with it! thanks for reviewing!)**

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_**Previously**__: __I had just turned off the light when I heard a knock on the door. "Yes? Rose is that you?" I asked._

_The door opened and I heard a deeper voice say, "No, it's not Rosalie. But, Alice? I need to talk to you," and in walked none other than Jasper Hale._

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Is it ok if I come in?" he asked hesitantly.

"Uh…sure," I couldn't think of any excuses on the spot to keep him out.

"Were you sleeping?" he asked. "I don't think you were since it _just_ got quiet in the house," he smiled at me. I tried to smile back.

"So…what's up?" I asked to lighten the tension in the room.

"Oh, nothing much. You? How was shopping?" wow this conversation is awkward. _What does he want to talk about? Grr…_

"It was good. We had to leave kinda early, since your mom wanted Rosalie back. But it was really fun. I haven't had a girls day like that in _forever_," I chuckled and so did he.

"How've you been? We haven't really talked lately…" I trailed realizing that I just brought back the topic of conversation at hand.

"No, we haven't. And I wanted to talk to you about that," he looked straight into my eyes. I looked down. _He has the most gorgeous blue eyes, _my mind said to me.

_Shut-up! I need to concentrate, _I told myself. But I looked back up.

"You have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen," Jasper said to me.

I felt a blush redden my face and looked down, again. But I couldn't keep the smile from spreading across my face. We were silent for a few minutes, but this time it wasn't awkward.

"So…w-why weren't you…you know…talking to me…before," he struggled to get the question out.

"Wow, that's blunt," I said, teasing him. He laughed quietly but didn't say anything.

"You really want to know?" I asked him, serious now.

"Yeah. We had so much fun that one night and then after you didn't even talk to me," he sounded kinda sad about it.

I decided to tell him the truth…or, half of it, anyway. "Well I remembered a story my mom," that part wasn't necessarily a lie, "told me, and she got hurt really bad by a man and I didn't want to go through what she did. And after that day I realized that I had ruined my chances with you," I said the last part quietly. The part about my mom was true, she did tell me that story. I was still looking down as I said this, realizing that I had just admitted to liking him.

"You know, I would never hurt you," his voice sounded so sincere and kind that I looked up. He looked straight into my eyes again, but this time there was something in them I didn't recognize. I had no idea what it was. "Alice, last week, when you were pushed down, I wasn't laughing at you."

"Sure you weren't," I said sarcastically, but I really wanted to believe the sincerity in his voice.

"I know that you have every right not to believe me but I have to tell you that I wasn't. I was laughing at my friend, Lenny. He cracked a joke right before. Please believe me," and I did. The look in his eyes made it clear that he wasn't lying.

"I believe you," I whispered. He smiled.

"You know, I haven't been able to stop thinking of you since that Friday two weeks ago," he said suddenly.

My eyes widened in shock. "Really?" I asked in disbelief. "What about Jessica?" I asked.

"We broke up. It wasn't working out," he informed me.

I raised my eyebrows, "Wow, you wouldn't expect that," I mumbled to myself. He wasn't really supposed to hear but I heard him laugh quietly beside me. I smiled and looked over at him. "What?" I asked defensively.

"Your funny, but in a good way," he told me. Now it was my turn to laugh and his turn to be defensive. "What?"

"That's one of the first things Bella told me, too," I smiled at the memory.

"Great mind think alike then," he chuckled.

"So you really broke up with Jessica? How did that work out?" I was honestly curious.

"Turns out she was feeling the same way. She said she was going to break up with me the same night I did, smiled and walked away," he shrugged but I burst out laughing.

"Shh, you'll wake everyone up. They'll think I'm trying to corrupt your youthful innocence," he smiled at his joke but my smile tightened. _Too late for that Jazz,_ I thought bitterly to myself. Luckily for me he didn't notice, so I changed the subject before he did.

"So, you really couldn't stop thinking about me?" I said, partly joking, but mostly serious.

"Yeah," he confessed, "But it didn't help that you were ignoring me. That made me think about you even more. I kept trying to figure out what you were thinking. But at least now I know," he looked at me. I nodded.

"To tell the truth, I kept thinking about you, too. So I know how you feel," I admitted.

He smiled, and put his hand to his heart. "I'm touched," then he scooted closer to me and draped his arm around my shoulder. I leaned into his chest and I felt my eyelids drooping shut. Wow, who knew I was so tired. Apparently Jasper noticed because he said. "I'm sorry, you must be exhausted. I'll let you get some sleep," he started to get up.

"No. It's fine I'm not…" I noticed the clock. "Holy crap! It's already 4:30?" I whisper-shouted. Jasper laughed.

"Yeah, we've been talking for a while. So I'll leave and let you get some sleep," he got off the bed and tucked me in. I rolled my eyes.

He leaned down to kiss my forehead, "Good night," he whispered, but leaned down again to pres his lips to mine. I was a little surprised at first but I kissed him back. His lips were soft and sweet and so was the kiss.

He pulled away first. I pouted but said, "good night Jazz," he smiled.

"Jazz. I like that. Good night Alice," he kissed my forehead again then left the room.

I rolled over to get comfortable. My mind was screaming, _your first kiss! _But I just smiled and fell asleep with peaceful dreams for the first time in a long time.

**AN- yes i know i know. it's short. but hey, it was only one conversation. **

**also i think i speak for all when i say...THEY FINALLY KISSED!!!! OH MY GOD!**

**and....have you noticed how a lot of my chapter titles are a little poetic? hmmm....just thought io'd point that out. **

**REVIEW!!!!! XOXO**


	10. racing and transformers

**AN- first i'd like to say THANK YOU to those who reviewed. and i know it's still a few days away, but by the time chapter 12 comes out, i want to have gone passed 100 reviews. do you think you can do that???? i know you can, just keep up the rate you've been doin, 'kay?????**

**(i dont own twilight, transformers, or my sister's keeper)**

I woke up feeling the best I've felt in years. I felt…accepted. Of course Bella and Rose were great, but I really didn't think that I'd ever have a boyfriend. Or even a kiss. It was wonderful.

I looked over at the clock and was surprised to se that it was already 11:00. I got up, grabbed my new robe and walked into the hall.

"Alice," I heard someone whisper behind me. I turned around and saw Bella standing there in her new robe, too.

"Oh, hey. When did you get up?" I asked her.

"About five minutes ago, you?" she walked up beside me.

"Same here. Want to go wake up Rosalie with me?" I asked mischievously.

"Sure," the same malicious glint in her eyes. She knew what I was doing. I told her what I had planned to do. She smiled and nodded.

"Okay, let's go," I told her and we snuck into Rosalie's bedroom. She was still sleeping just like we hoped. We both got on either side of her bed. I held up three of my fingers, and signaled, "3-2-1," when I reached one, we both screamed, "Rosalie!" in her ears.

She screamed and popped up. "You. Are. So. MEAN!" she screamed at us, then hit us both with pillows. Bella and I just started laughing as Esme and Carlisle came running into the room.

"What's wrong?" Esme asked, frantic.

"They yelled in my ear to get me to wake up. I screamed, hit them with pillows. And my heart is still pounding!" Rosalie explained in a loud, annoyed voice to her mother.

They started laughing, too. "You're supposed to take my side!" Rosalie shouted, angry.

"I'm sorry, Rose," Carlisle said, giving her a hug. "Come on, breakfast. Go put on your new robe, that way you girls match," he pulled away and chuckled. Rosalie scowled but did as he suggested.

Carlisle was right, though. All of our robes matched. Except mine was blush pink, Bella's was pale blue, and Rosalie's was mint green. **(AN- link on profile) **

When she got it on we headed downstairs. "Okay, girls. I've got pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, and assorted fruit so you can have whatever you want," Esme informed everyone as we entered the kitchen to see all the guys (Emmett, Edward, and Jasper) already eating. I caught Jasper's eye and smiled slightly. He smiled back.

Bella, Rose, and I got our food and decided to eat outside since it was still sunny out.

"So, Alice," Rose started. "I noticed that you were looking googley eyes at my brother. And that he was giving you the same look," she speared a piece of pineapple and popped it in her mouth. I cut a piece of pancake, stuck it in my mouth, and chewed slowly to buy some time.

"Well…" I began. "Jasper came into my room last night because he wanted to talk to me…" I was cut off.

"He did what?" Rosalie shouted.

"Shh. You've been shouting a lot today. Jeez," I told her. Bella couldn't keep her snickering quiet. Rosalie glared at me. "Now, can I finish?" I asked her. She nodded grudgingly.

"So… he wanted to talk to me about some things, and we did. He told me that he liked me for a few weeks, I told him the same thing. Oh, and right before he left, he kissed me," I informed them. Their jaws dropped.

"I can't believe that _Jasper _would do something like that. He's always so quiet and gentlemanly. Its just…wow," Rosalie told me. I shrugged. Bella smiled.

"What?" I asked her.

"Oh, it's nothing just… all of us have boyfriends!" she exclaimed. Then Rosalie burst out laughing.

"_What?" _I was starting to get a little annoyed by now.

"Okay, let's just say…hypothetically…that all of us got married to our boyfriends, then we'd all be technically related!" she started laughing again.

"Umm…how?" I was confused.

"Okay, so Me, Edward and Jasper are siblings right?" Rose asked me, I nodded.

After about two minutes of thinking, I finally exclaimed, "Oh! I get it!"

"Wow, your slow," Bella muttered. I glared at her.

"Stop making fun of me. I'm small, not…well, yes, I am smart but…never mind," I muttered. They started laughing. I glared at them and they stopped laughing immediately.

"Wow, Alice. Your glare is scary," Rosalie told me, with a shocked expression.

"Oh, sorry," I mumbled looking down. I remembered that day at school three weeks ago…

"She moved to Illinois," he told me when I asked where Jasmine was. Some people started snickering, as if this fact should be obvious. I turned to glare at them. And when I mean glare I mean the only kind of glare I actually know how to do, the death glare. They looked shocked by my expression; probably surprised such a small body could hold so much anger; and a little scared. I smirked, satisfied, and turned back around. I heard whispers erupt behind me…

Wow, do I really hold that much anger in me? Well, I guess when you've been raised with hate; some of it rubs off on you. I sighed.

"Alice, we were only joking around. We didn't mean any of it. I'm sorry," Bella said starting to ramble.

"No, it's okay. I overreacted," I cut her off. "So…what are we doing today?" I asked them changing the subject.

"Well, we were gonna go to the movies in Port Angeles," Rosalie informed me. "We're going with our boyfriends, so if you and Jasper wanna go…" she smirked at me.

"Ha ha. You're very funny, Rose," I said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"I'm serious. Fine, I'll ask him," she stood up.

"No-" I got cut off.

"Jasper!" Rosalie called towards the entrance to the house.

"Again with the shouting," Bella muttered. I laughed. Just then Jasper came out the door.

"Yeah?" he was still holding his fork, which had a piece of sausage on it. Men.

"Since Emmett, Edward, Bella, and I are going to the movies later, I thought I should ask if you and Alice wanted to go, too," Rosalie asked, acting like a friendly sister. My cheeks were flaming. He came over and sat down next to me.

"You wanna go?" he whispered in my ear.

"Sure," I said, smiling.

"Yes," he told Rose.

"Okay. See Alice? That wasn't so bad," I threw her a 'you-are-so-annoying' look.

Before she could say anything Edward and Emmett came outside.

"So, _that's_ where you went," Emmett said in his loud voice. "The girls stole you," he sat next to Rosalie and draped his arm over her shoulder. Edward sat down next to Bella.

"So what are we talking about?" Emmett asked.

"_We _are talking about going to the movies later," Rosalie told him.

"Oh, if that's how you feel. You don't want me to be part of the conversation, well…that's okay," Emmett put on a fake pout face, sniffed and started to get up.

"Sit back down, you goof," Rosalie said pulling him down. Emmett burst out laughing. Bella and Edward just rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"So, what are we going to see?" Edward asked.

"Well, I was thinking that we go see 'My Sister's Keeper,'" Rosalie stated.

"And I was thinking 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,'" Emmett added.

"Well, we can't see two movie at once," Jasper pointed out. That started up a major debate that lasted about an hour and a half. It was only interrupted once, when Esme came out to get our plates. We hardly noticed her because we were deep in our conversation, or rather, argument. The guys wanted to see Transformers, but us girls wanted to see My Sister's Keeper. It was a very long and heated discussion. In the end, we had Carlisle come help.

"Dad, choose a number one through fifty-five," Rosalie told him.

"Okay…" he thought for a minute. "Alright I have my number."

_It's forty-three, _my mind told me. I raised my hand.

Carlisle looked a little confused because I was raising my hand but said, "Yes Alice?"

"Is the number forty-three?" I asked him.

"Uh…yeah. How did you know that?" he looked at me questioningly.

"I'm usually really good at guessing what's going to happen," I told him. He looked surprised.

"Hmm…so do you want to tell me what movie you're gong to go see?"

"Umm. We're gonna end up seeing transformers, because it's longer," I told everyone. "Sorry, Rose."

"Ugh, dang it," she grumbled. I giggled.

So at about 5:45 we headed to our different cars for the hour drive to Port Angeles. I rode with Jasper in his jaguar, Bella with Edward in his Volvo, and Rose with Emmett in his truck. **(AN- I know Emmett really has a jeep. But that's boring so…I got him a truck! Links on profile)**

Once we hit the highway Emmett passed me and Jasper.

"Oh, no he didn't," I said to Jasper. In response to my words Jasper pressed the pedal down farther. I laughed and waved as we passed them again. Rosalie glared at me. Right up ahead was Edward and Bella. Jasper quickly caught up and passed them. I looked behind me to see Bella with her mouth open. She said something to Edward and he sped up. Right on Edwards tail was Emmett and Rose.

"Jazz, let me see your cell," he handed it to me. I dialed Bella number and when she answered put it on three-way with Rose. Then I put it on speaker so Jasper could hear, too.

"Aww, are you two mad that we're winning?" I said in a mock baby voice.

"You just wait. We'll catch up," I heard Edward growl. I laughed.

"_We_ are gonna win, you got a problem with that?" Rosalie snapped.

"Yes, I do actually. Because you see, Jasper and I are going to win. Kapeesh?" I looked over at Jasper and saw that he was laughing.

"You just wait," I heard Bella and Rose say at the same time. I laughed harder and hung up the phone.

For the next hour that's how it went. We would call each other, make threats and hang up. Jasper and I were in the lead most of the time. But for a few minutes we were in the back. That was not a fun time. We got phone calls from Bella and Rose laughing. Then jasper stepped on it _hard. _We quickly zoomed back to the front and regained first place.

At about six-thirty Jazz and I drove into the parking lot for the theatre.

"Ha ha we won!" I exclaimed as I got out of the car. I ran over and gave Jasper a hug. He wrapped his arms around me. When I looked up he leaned down to kiss me.

It was just like last night, except, if possible, even sweeter.

"Hey! Get a room!" I heard Emmett call from his truck. We broke away and I saw Rosalie smiling, and Edward just pulling in. I chuckled. "C'mon," I said pulling jasper along by his hand.

We got in line to by tickets first. Right behind us was Em and Rose, and behind them – Bella and Edward. By the time we _finally _got to the front of the line, I checked Jasper's watch; it said 6:49.

"Jeez, that guy took _forever," _I complained when we got out of line.

"I know. But we've got another one to get in if we want popcorn," he smiled down at me. I groaned loudly. Some people around us started laughing. I glared at them to make them shut-up.

"How can you glare so well?" Jasper asked me.

I smiled tightly. "It's something you learn when you live with a brother you absolutely despise," I told him. He nodded understandingly. Thankfully this line didn't take nearly as long. We went to our theatre to find good seats. I walked in a little ahead since Jasper insisted on carrying everything and I quickly found some good seats right in the middle. I looked back to see that the soda's were about to fall. I ran over and grabbed them before they fell.

"Thanks," he said as we headed for our seats.

"Jazz, if you were having difficulties, you could've just asked for help," I told him.

"No…that would have been rude," he retorted. I rolled my eyes and saw everyone else enter.

We talked while we waited for the next ten minutes for the movie to start.

* * *

We got out of the theatre after watching, and surprisingly enjoying, 150 minutes of action and adventure. Even Rose enjoyed it (I asked).

On the way back I leaned against the headrest. We didn't race on the way back because it was too dark.

We were about halfway there when I fell asleep on Jasper's shoulder.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

(Jasper POV)

We were about halfway home when Alice fell asleep on my shoulder. I looked down at her and smiled. She was so cute when she slept. She looked…peaceful. Completely different then when she was awake.

She always had a trace of fear and what looked like anger. She covered it up well but sometimes I could see through it.

We got to her house at around 10:20. I gently shook her to wake her up.

"Hmm?" she mumbled.

"Alice, we're at your house," I told her.

She groaned. "I don' wanna go," I could just barely make out what she was saying.

"Well…doesn't your father want you home?" I asked confused.

"No. He won't be back 'till tomorrow night," she was slightly more coherent now.

"Where is he?" I pressed.

"Tennessee. They're at a wedding," she opened her eyes. "Can I go back to your house?" she pouted.

I sighed, "Alright, but you have to get your school stuff. Tomorrow's Monday, remember?" I asked her. She nodded and unbuckled her seatbelt.

"I'll be right back," she told me. She walked up to her door and went inside. I only had to wait five minutes before I saw her coming back out, with her backpack and textbooks. She locked the door and got back in the car. She threw her things in the back and leaned back on my shoulder.

"Okay, I've got my stuff, now good-night," she fell back asleep literally within two seconds. I chuckled and started driving back to my house.

When we got here I grabbed her backpack, put her books in it, and slung it over my shoulder. Then I walked over to her side and gently picked her up (She was surprisingly light) and carried her to the door.

It was already partially open so I pushed it open with my foot and walked inside.

"Oh good! You're home," I heard my mother say as she rounded the corner. "Where have you been Jas-?" she cut herself off when she saw Alice in my arms. Her worried face melted into a smile.

"Can she stay here another night?" I asked. "Her family won't be back until tomorrow."

She nodded and got out of the way

I carried Alice to the room she was in last night. I noticed that all the shopping bags were still in here. I smiled and lay her down on the bed and pulled the covers around her. I leaned in to kiss her forehead. I started walking away when I heard a sleepy voice say quietly, "Jazzy?"

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I felt someone gently shaking my shoulder.

"Hmm?" I mumbled.

"Alice, we're at your house," I heard a voice say softly to me.

I groaned. "I don' wanna go."

"Well…doesn't your father want you home?" Jazz asked, confused.

"No. He won't be back 'till tomorrow night," I told him.

"Where is he?" he questioned.

"Tennessee. They're at a wedding," I opened her eyes to see that I was still leaning on Jasper's shoulder. "Can I go back to your house?" I pouted.

He sighed, "Alright, but you have to get your school stuff. Tomorrow's Monday, remember?" he reminded me. I nodded and unbuckled my seatbelt.

"I'll be right back," I told him. I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out to unlock the door. I walked quickly upstairs to get my school stuff. I really didn't want to be here. I wanted to be sleeping on Jaspers shoulder again. Luckily it only took a few minutes to get my stuff.

I rushed back outside, locked the deadbolt and got back in the car.

I threw my stuff in the back, an leaned back on his shoulder. "Okay, I've got my stuff, good-night," I said, and was asleep in seconds.

I could tell when we got there because jasper picked me up; he seemed to have no trouble with carrying me. I could hear him talking to Esme but was to out of it to be able to tell what they were saying.

Jasper walked upstairs and lay me down on a bed. I felt warm lips on my forehead and then he left. No! I opened my eyes to see his retreating form.

"Jazzy?" I asked sleepily. He turned around quickly and rushed back over.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Don't leave please," I pleaded quietly.

He smiled slightly and said, "Okay, I'll stay," he climbed up and sat on the bed next to me.

I scooted closer and snuggled in close to his side. He rubbed circles on my back and hummed an unfamiliar tune, as I drifted back towards sleep.

I then realized that what Jasper said last night was true; he'd never hurt me. Because I was safe here in jasper's arms. He would protect me. I smiled as I fell into a deep sleep.

**AN- holy crao that's a long chapter!! 11 pages. jeez. i just couldn't stop. i've bee on the computer for _hours _typing. and right after this i'm gonna typre ch.11!!!!**

**(if you want Bella to find out about Richard within the next coupl of chapters tell me and i'll do it!!!!) **

**please review :) :) :) :) :) XOXO**


	11. where have you been?

**AN- so a lot of things happen in this chapter. you'll see what. **

**91 REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!! i almost cried when i saw how many there were! i love you guys!!!!!! lets get up to 100 before i post the next chapter 'kay?????????**

**(i dont own twilight, blah blah blah) (i do own the plot, richard and thomas, tho!!!!!) :) :) :)**

I woke up with Jasper's arms still around me. I smiled. He must've fallen asleep next to me.

I looked over and saw that it was seven a.m. Ugh. Time for school.

I gently shook Jasper's shoulder. "Jazzy," I whispered in his ear. "Time to get up."

He stirred but didn't wake up. I tried tickling him. The good thing that came from it was that I figured out he was ticklish. The bad part is that he rolled over and his arm was now pinning me down. I tried pushing it off, but dang! His arm is _heavy! _I pushed again but gave up with a huff.

"Jasper!" I shouted in the general direction of his head.

"Hmm?" he murmured sleepily.

"Get up! You're squishing me," I told him. He looked over at me blearily and I grimaced at him.

"Oh, sorry Ali," he lifted his arm up.

"Thank you. Your arm is really heavy," I informed him.

"Sorry," he said again. He got up, stretched, and came over to me. "I got to go get changed. I'll see you soon," he kissed my forehead and left the room. I smiled and rummaged through my many bags to find something to wear. I ended up finding a cute pink shirt that was appropriate for school, dark blue jeans, and really cute black shoes with heels. I grabbed a brush and went to the mirror and brushed through my hair to make it cooperate.

Once I was satisfied with my appearance I went downstairs for breakfast. In the kitchen I saw Esme washing dishes.

"Good morning," I chirped.

"Oh, good morning dear. Did you sleep well?" she asked me.

"Yes ma'am. thanks for asking. Umm…what's for breakfast?" I asked her.

"Just cereal today," she smiled. "It's on the table."

I thanked her and went into the dining room to see Edward, Rose and Jasper already seated.

I walked over to the empty chair next to Jazz and sat down. "Hi," I said. Then I chose some captain crunch and ate. I scooted closer to Jazz and he draped his arm around me. We all ate in silence.

When breakfast was done I went back upstairs to brush my teeth. Jasper followed. I walked into the bathroom and started brushing my teeth. When I was done Jasper came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"You look so cute in that shirt," he whispered in my ear. I turned my head and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," I whispered back. He turned to face me and kissed me. I kissed him back, and we were there for a few minutes, kissing, before I pulled away.

"We have to go to school," I reminded him.

"Damn," he said.

I chuckled, "C'mon," and dragged him downstairs.

We walked into the living room. "We're leaving, mom," Jasper announced. (Carlisle was already at work).

She got up to give us each hugs. "Rosalie and Edward just left, so hurry up," she shooed us towards the door.

"Bye!" we called as we drove away. It only took us ten minutes to get to school with Jasper's car.

"Jazz, I like your car," I told him as we pulled into the parking lot.

He laughed, "Why? I mean I know why, but…why?"

"It's new. And fast," I explained. "My car is old, slow and ugly," I pouted.

"I'm sorry," he squeezed my hand. We just pulled into a parking space. He let go of my hand and quickly got out of the car. He rushed over to my side before I could even take off my seat belt. He opened my door for me.

"Thank you," I said as I grabbed his hand. He smiled as we headed to class. He had algebra II first hour, too, but he had a different teacher. He walked me to my door.

"I believe this is where I take my leave, ma'am," Jasper said in the sexiest southern accent I've ever heard.

"I believe it is. I'll see you fourth hour," I said in the best accent I could manage. He chuckled and gave me a quick kiss. When I pulled away I saw at least twenty people staring, all of them female, and they had angry looks on their faces. I smirked and pulled Jasper in for another kiss, this one, a little more exuberant than the last one. He seemed a bit surprised at first, but then seemed to figure out what I was doing, so he went along.

After a minute or so I pulled away, and smiled at him. I looked back over at the girls and saw that some them had left. What angry faces they had were now murderous. A few of them even had tears in their eyes.

"Wow, your evil," Jasper said.

"I know. I'm showing off, just a little," I hugged him and pushed him towards his class playfully. "Bye!" I called after him.

He blew me a kiss. I smiled and walked into class.

My next three classes were boring. But entertaining because a lot of girls kept shooting me evil eyes. They were funny because I knew I had what they wanted. Every time someone glared at me I raised my eyebrows and smirked at them.

When I got to fourth hour, I saw Jasper sitting in his usual seat. I smiled hugely and went to sit down next to him.

"How was your day so far?" I asked him cheerfully.

"It was good. I got a _lot_ of sad looks from girls. Apparently they were hoping for a chance with me, since Jessica and I broke up," he shrugged.

"Hmm. My day was similar except that instead of sad looks I got glares. So I just smiled at them, knowing that I have something they can't have," I smiled at him. His eyes twinkled. Right then the bell rang, and Mr. Banner started his lecture on, tides. Talk about _boring. _After fifty-five minutes of torture the bell rang signally the beginning of lunch.

Jasper grabbed my hand as we walked out the door. As we walked into the cafeteria and into the lunch line, we got a lot more stares. I brushed it off. _I don't care what they think,_ I thought to myself. Jasper grabbed two slices of pizza, two cookies, two apples, and two cokes. He got up to the cashier and paid. I grabbed the cokes to carry them, winking at Jasper as I did so. He rolled his eyes as we walked over to a table with Edward, Bella, Rosalie, and Emmett already seated around it.

As we sat down Bella said, "hey! Now none of us are single!" she smiled hugely.

"Nope," I agreed popping the P.

"Hey did you know that the cowboys are playing against the giants this weekend?" Emmett asked.

"No," us girls said at the same time the guys said, "Yeah." We started laughing and Emmett started up a conversation about football that lasted the entire lunch period.

The rest of the day flew by and before I knew it, it was time to go home. I didn't really want to go because I had to get things ready for Richard and Thomas's arrival. Oh _joy._ (heavy sarcasm).

"Hey Jazz? Can you drop me off at my house?" I asked as we met up after the bell rang.

"Sure," he said. The drive to my house was much quicker than the one from his house to the school. "I'll see you tomorrow, 'Kay?" he said as he walked me to the door.

"Okay," I stretched up on my toes to give him a kiss. He chuckled, but leaned down so I wouldn't have to stretch. When he pulled away, I smiled and unlocked my door to go inside. I waved from the doorway as he drove away.

I sighed. It's the end to the best weekend of my life. I ran upstairs to drop off my things. When that was done I started cleaning, knowing that that would take a while. When I was finally done it was six-thirty so I made some grilled cheese, since I knew Richard would be grumpy and want to go to bed quickly.

When that was done I heard car wheels on the driveway. I sighed again and closed my eyes. I opened them again when I heard the key turning in the lock. I was on my way upstairs when I felt a rough hand around my neck.

"Where are you going?" I heard Richard's gravelly voice say.

"I'm going to bed?" I said it like a question.

"No your not! Your going to make dinner!" he shoved me down the stairs. I stumbled and fell down once I reached the bottom. Ow.

"I already made dinner!" I shouted back at him. He came down, grabbed my hair and leaned down so we were almost nose-to-nose. From the corner of my eye I could see Thomas go upstairs with a pained look on his face. Hmm…I didn't have long to think about then when Richard started shouting in my face.

"You call that crap food?" he screamed at me. I just glared at him, showing no weakness. "A monkey could cook better food than that!" still I said nothing. He dragged me up by my hair. I felt a few strands come loose.

"Get out of my sight! I don't want to see you for the rest of the night!" he threw me down. I quickly got up, and rushed up the stairs.

On the landing I saw Thomas with the same pained look on his face. I glared at him and walked to my room and slammed the door.

I put on my pajamas and climbed into bed. I had been laying there for a few minutes, when I heard the door open.

_Oh god no, _I thought just as a soft voice said,"Alice? Are you okay?" and Thomas walked into the room.

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(Bella POV)

I was on my way to Alice's house. I had just been over at Edwards house, and Rosalie asked me if I could take some of Alice's bags to her, since she forgot them. I told her I would so here I am, pulling up into Alice's driveway.

I opened my door when I heard shouting.

"…You're going to make dinner!" I heard a deep gravelly voice shout. _That must be Richard, Alice's dad,_ I thought to myself. _But, why is he shouting like that?_

I heard someone stumble onto the floor.

"I already made dinner!" I heard Alice's furious voice scream. I rushed over to the window. I peered through the cracks in the blinds and saw a big man grab Alice by her hair, and lean in her face. Then I saw Thomas pass by with a pained expression.

"You call that crap food?" he yelled in her face. Alice just glared back. "A money could make better food that that!" he then pulled Alice up by her hair. I felt a few tears leak out of the corners of my eyes.

"Get out of my sight! I don't want to see you for the rest of the night!" he threw her back onto the ground. I bit back a sob. I saw Alice get up with a furious look on her face and run upstairs. I covered my mouth and went back to my car. I quickly started it up and drove away as fast as I could.

Poor Alice. No wonder she has all those bruises. Is that why she gets distant? No wonder she glares like that. I saw the raw anger in her eyes. Like she wanted to kill him. I pulled into my driveway and walked into my house.

"Hey Bells. Did you have fun at the Cullen's?" Charlie asked me.

I opened my mouth to tell him what I just saw but closed it right back. Instead I said, "Yeah, it was good. I'm going to bed, I'm really tired," I told him.

"Okay, 'night Bella," he said.

"Night," and I walked upstairs. I don't know why I didn't tell him. I should've. But maybe she doesn't want me to. Maybe she wants to be the one to tell. I didn't fall asleep for a while. Terrifying thoughts kept going through my head.

After a while though, I fell into a restless sleep.

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(Alice POV)

"Thomas?" I asked in disbelief.

He stepped all the way into the room. "Uh…yeah. Are you okay?" he asked again.

"Why? It's not like you care. You've been a passive bystander all these years, so why do you care now?" I asked savagely.

He looked down as I clicked my lamp on. "I never wanted that to happen to you. Sometimes I'd get to caught up… and think I really _was_ better than you. Then I'd lay down at night knowing that I should've done something, but not knowing what," he tried to explain. I wasn't fooled.

"Then why didn't you say something earlier? I've been living in this house for _years _not being shown or knowing any kind of love! No one's been there for me, I've been by myself! Do you have _any_ idea what kind of things I've been through, because of _you_ and Richard?" I was almost shouting by the time I finished. He didn't say anything. "And now here you are saying that you never wanted any of this to happen? That's a bunch of bull," I could feel angry tears start to form in my eyes and I angrily wiped them away.

"Your right. You are one hundred and ten percent right. I should've done something sooner. But I never knew what. when mom died, it was hard on everyone. I can see now that you were affected the most, and I'm sorry that I made everything worse. I'm sorry that I was passive when Richard was drunk. I'm sorry for letting everything get to my head and I'm sorry that I've never been there," tears were now pooling in his eyes as he realized what he'd done.

I looked him in the eye. "I'm not saying I forgive you. You have a long way to go before that happens. But I might give you a chance," I told him fiercely. He just nodded. "But, do you know the worst thing that's happened because no one has bothered to stop Richard from going to far?" I asked him.

He looked up. "I know. Richard let slip about it on the car ride home," as he said this the tears that I tried to keep away spilled over my eyes. "He started talking about things, and then I realized what I've done all these years. I know you don't forgive me. I won't be surprised if you _never_ forgive me. But I just want to say that I'm sorry for everything," he closed his eyes and I noticed that he was crying, too. I scooted over and gave him a hug. To my surprise he hugged me back. We sat there for an immeasurable time. when he finally pulled away it was eleven thirty-five.

"You should get some sleep, kid," he told me playfully. "You look like you could use it."

I nodded and he left the room.

I soon fell asleep, feeling more at peace, than I have in my life.

**AN- holy crap bella found out, thomas is secretly good!!!!!! lot's of things going on in this chapter i'm tellin you.**

**the conversation with bella and alice next chapter. how will that turn out???? stay tuned to find out!!!!!!!!!!!**

**please review! XOXO**


	12. what's going on?

**AN- YAY! i got it up! i didn't think i was gonna be able to. so you are lucky. also... 109 REVIEWS!!!!!! we passed my goal!!!!! so here is the next chapter with ALice and Bella's talk!!!!! xoxo**

**(i don't own twilight, yadda yadda. blah blah blah. everyone knows this. *tear*) **

My early morning was (thankfully) uneventful. Thomas had football practice and Richard went to work early. So it was pretty quiet in the house. I still couldn't believe what Thomas said last night. It felt like a dream, but I knew it was real. I smiled as I drove to school.

I pulled into a parking space and got out of my car. I immediately spotted Bella standing by the flagpole. I waved and called her name. She looked over and waved back. As I got closer I saw sad look on her face.

"What's up?" I asked her as I gave her a hug.

"What? Oh, nothing. Umm…can we go for a walk during lunch? I need to talk to you," she asked hurriedly.

I was a little confused but said, "Sure," and left it at that.

I was wondering what she wanted all day. But in fourth hour I finally got to see Jasper. I walked into the classroom and saw him sitting at our desk. My face grew into a huge smile. _My Jasper, _my mind said to me.

"Hey," he said and wrapped his arms around me.

"Hi," I replied hugging him back. "What did you do last night?" I asked him as we took our seats.

"Umm. I did homework. Nothing exciting, you?" he looked into my eyes.

Shoot. "Nothing really," I lied.

"Oh, fun," he said sarcastically, teasing me. I forced a smile. The rest of the hour was uneventful.

As we walked to the cafeteria I turned to Jasper. "Umm…Jazz?" I asked.

"Hmm?" he looked down at me.

"Bella wanted to talk to me during lunch, is that okay?" I was unsure.

"Yeah. You can do whatever you want Alice. I don't own you," he chuckled. I remained silent as we passed my brother. He smiled down at me and I smiled hesitantly back, but I felt Jasper stiffen by my side.

Before he said anything, I spotted Bella. "Hey, I see Bella, so I'm gonna go see what she wants to talk about," I told him.

"What? Oh, okay. I'll see you later. He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss as we separated to go our different ways.

I walked over to Bella. "What's up?" I asked.

Instead of answering she pulled me out of the cafeteria towards a small path in the woods. This was kind of strange. Bella was sort of a klutz, and tripped over things, so why were we going into the forest?

When we were quite a bit onto the trail she suddenly turned to face me.

"Where did that come from?" she asked pointing to a bruise on my arm.

"I fell. I told you, I'm kinda clumsy-" she cut me off.

"No, Alice, you are not. I spent two entire days with you and you didn't so much as stumble. Once," she looked at me with a fierce expression. I took a deep breath.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I lied.

"Oh don't give me that crap Alice! Why are you covering for him?" she shouted.

Oh crap. She knows. I decided to lie again. "'him' who?" I asked.

"Why are you lying to me? I know where you get all your injuries, but why won't you tell anyone? You could be safe, my father is the police chief. You've been over at my house a couple of times, why didn't you-" this time I cut her off.

"Because you have no idea what I go through. You have no idea how hard it would be to just tell someone. It's not as easy as it sounds. I can't just go over to someone and just say it. Do you even know what he'd do if he found out I told someone. Much less me speaking to you _right now_!" tears started falling down my cheeks as I said this.

"No Alice. I don't know. But that's why you should tell me. I can help. Charlie's a cop-"

"No! You can't tell anyone. I'm still only a minor, remember? They'll send me away. Probably to somebody I don't even know. At first I didn't tell anyone, but I didn't want to. I guess I was just hoping that he would end my life quickly, when he was drunk, or something. I had no reason to live. I was so close to just giving up and doing it myself. I was so close to cracking, that I just wanted to end my own life soon. But one day everything changed. And do you want to know what that change was?" I saw that tears were gushing down her face, too. She nodded.

"It was set. I was going to go home early that day and do it myself. I would finally see my mom, again.

"But then you came chasing after me when I ran into the woods. I saw that I probably wasn't alone. _Someone_ cared about me. _Someone_ cared whether I lived or died. I had a friend for the first time in _ten_ years. That's how long I was alone," I had to pause because I was crying so hard.

"Oh, Alice," Bella started to come over to me, but I held up my hand for her to stop.

"Let me finish," she nodded. "And then I became friends with Edward. And I went over to the Cullen's house. I became kinda friends with everyone. I had so much fun," I had been smiling slightly, but then my face grew dark.

"I went home. I was surprised he had been so nice. I thought nothing of it. But that night he-he came into my room," Bella's hand flew over her mouth. I nodded at her unspoken question.

"I grew distant from Jasper. Despite the fun we had that Friday. After a while I came out of my shell again, slightly.

"We went shopping. I had a blast. Then that night Jasper came into my room to talk to me. he wanted to know why I had been so distant. So I told _half_ of the truth, but lied the rest. I told him that my mom told me a story from when she was younger. That was the lie. But I also knew that I had ruined my chances. He told me I hadn't," I smiled at the memory. "You know the rest of that part.

"I finally have a reason to live and keep going. I have a reason to stay here. I don't want to leave. I've been having the best three weeks of my life. I even had a talk with Thomas last night. Please don't tell anyone," I pleaded.

She closed her eyes tightly. "Alright. But I'm doing this against _all_ of my best wishes," she finally said.

I hugged her. "Thank you," I whispered. "but, how did you figure out?" I asked, confused.

"Oh. Last night I went over to your house to drop off some of your bags, since you left them at the Cullen's. I heard yelling and I heard what your father was saying," like me before, her face darkened. "He was shouting something about dinner and I heard you scream that you had already done it so I ran over to the curtains to see what was going on. I saw him grab your hair and throw you down…. But, after you ran upstairs I left" she trailed off.

"You saw that?" I asked din a small voice. I didn't want anyone to see me at my weakest moments.

"Yeah. It was pretty bad," she told me. I sighed. "What?" she asked, concerned.

"I don't like…to be weak. Or look weak. It's the one useful thing that Richard has taught me. 'Never show weakness.'" I said in an imitation of his gravelly voice.

Bella snorted. "You honestly believe that crap?"

"No. I don't. But it's one of the only things I've learned, and I realized that showing weakness doesn't help. So why shouldn't I use the one thing he's taught me?" I scrutinized her expression.

She sighed. "I guess your right. I, however, think that it's a stupid lesson," she told me. I just shrugged. "So, what are you gonna tell Jasper?" she asked.

"Uh, nothing!" I exclaimed. "I'm going to tell him exactly what I've been telling him. he doesn't need to know," I told her fiercely.

"Fine. Don't tell anyone. I just don't want anything to happen to you," she sounded really worried about what would happen to me.

"I'll be fine. Trust me. he needs me around. He couldn't cook to save his life. So without me, he would've been dead years ago," I laughed, cheered by the thought. Bella smiled unwillingly.

"C'mon. the bell is going to ring soon. We gotta go," I told her.

"Okay. Let's go," she hooked her arm in mine and we walked towards the school.

**AN- yikes! glad im done with that. alice's speech made me really sad. i almost cried. **

**we also learned her big dark secret that you didn't know she had, and i didnt either until i wrote it! you wanna know why i didn't know????? -its because she didn't let me know until now. confusing? if you have questions i'll answer you Q's in reviews!!!! muahahaha. **

**the major "fight" i guess you could say, is coming in chapter 14 or 15. (more than likely 15, but we'll see.) so you dont have to suffer much longer.**

**(I also got a new story up! it's called Life's Struggles. please check it out!) and please review!!!! XOXO**


	13. three magic words

**AN- i kmow it took me a while, but i was having a terrible case of writers block. and i had to go to the all for the 4th of july stuff. anyway, here is the next chapter. **

***crying* "fine! i don't own twilight!!!" hehe**

(One and a half weeks later).

So Bella has now known about my secret for a week and a half. It's been, well not great, but, it's been nice to be able to confide in someone.

Thomas hasn't acted like a jerk either. We haven't been _close _per say. But, it's been better. He knows about Jasper and I, but then again, everyone does.

Today was Wednesday, and it was so boring. I had tests in every one of my academic classes. (I think my teachers do it on purpose)

When school finally ended and I was walking to my car, I heard Jasper call my name.

"Alice!" he shouted, literally halfway across the parking lot from me. I saw him run towards me and he splashed straight through a puddle. He came over and tried to give me a hug.

"No way! You're soaking wet, don't touch me," I backed away from him.

"Oh, you don't like getting wet?" he asked mischievously.

"Don't you dare!" I shrieked as I turned around and started running. Unfortunately, being short has its disadvantages. He quickly caught up to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I screamed, "Jasper!" He only laughed and let me go. It didn't do much since I was now wet, too.

"Yeah, you're funny, Jazz. Real funny," I said sarcastically and started walking back towards my car.

"Aw, you know I am. And how about going out with your funny boyfriend on Friday night?" he asked me.

"Really?" I asked. "Where?"

"I can't tell you," he said, pretending to be shocked. "Then it wouldn't be a surprise. Besides, this Saturday is out two week anniversary," he smiled.

"Oh come on. You don't honestly do that stuff do you?" I asked.

"No," he stated simply. "But I felt like it was the perfect excuse to take you out."

"Fine. Be strange. And, yes. I'll go with you," I pulled him down for a kiss.

"No PDA!" I heard Mr. Greene, the principal, shout. We jumped apart. He glared at us and turned his back. I stuck my tongue out to his back. Jasper chuckled, and finished the kiss before Mr. Greene could turn back around.

"See you tomorrow, Ali," he said before he walked to his car.

"Bye!" I called to him. He turned and waved. With his attention diverted towards me, he didn't see the pole behind him before too late.

"Jas-" I tried to warn him, but it was too late. He banged his head on the pole. It didn't look like it was too hard, but I ran to make sure he was okay.

"Are you okay Jazz?" I asked worried.

"Ugh. Yeah, but that _hurt_," he complained. I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, gee. Thanks, Alice. Glad to know my pain amuses you," he said playful and sarcastic.

"Sorry," I apologized. I kissed his head. "Come on, I'll help you up," I got up and tugged on his arm. But…I forgot how heavy he was. "Oh jeez," I exclaimed. Jasper sighed and stood up.

"I'm fine," he told me. He kissed my forehead and playfully pushed me towards my car. I waved behind me. When I got in m car I sighed contentedly, _I can't wait for Friday. _

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Unfortunately, Friday didn't come fast enough.

School was boring, Richard was…himself, and I was very excited. Jasper called me a time bomb because, 'he didn't know when I was going to blow.'

_Finally _school ended on Friday. Jasper and I walked out of class holding hands. I had gym last hour, and he had history, but some pipes busted, so his class came into the gym.

"Okay Jazz, what should I wear tonight? Should I wear casual, fancy…what? Also, what time are you picking me up? Are we going to Port Angeles? It's so annoying not knowing where we're going but I guess you have a reason. So are you going to answer any of my…?" I was talking 100 miles a second so Jasper covered my mouth.

"I would answer but you keep talking," he told me.

I tried to say 'sorry,' but his hand was still over my mouth so it came out as, "Hzoray."

He laughed and moved his hand. "As to your other questions, I think you should dress nice, but not to fancy. I'll be picking you up at six-thirty. And, I'm not telling you where we are going but yes. We are going to Port Angeles," he finished.

I nodded, "Okay." I checked my watch, three-thirty. Good, I had a while to get ready. I gave him a quick kiss and said, "I'll see you then," and ran off to my car.

I got home quickly, glad that it was empty. I ran upstairs to take a shower. I made sure to wash my hair very good and shave my legs. Once that was done I rushed into my room to get dressed. I chose this dress out on Wednesday. I had gotten it on my shopping trip, with Bella and Rose.

I wasn't worried about Richard tonight, because he was hanging out with some of his, "buddies," as he liked to call them. So I was fine with going out tonight.

My dress was a rich purple. The top was silk, but the skirt was a lacy fabric. The skirt was kinda flippy, but not too much. It was knee-length, and gorgeous.

I wore light gold high heels to go with it. **(AN - link on profile) **I also wore a gold necklace and gold earrings to match.

Once I was dressed I went to the mirror to do my make-up. This took a lot longer because I had to cover up my bruises, too.

At six-twenty, I was finally done. I took one last look at my self in the mirror, grabbed my purse, (gold to match,) and went downstairs, to wait. However, I had literally, just gotten down the stairs when I heard a knock on the door.

I almost ran to the door, but was careful to not mess up my hair. I answered and saw Jasper standing there, with an umbrella in hand, because it was raining. His eyes widened when he saw me.

I smiled, "Hello, kind sir. Have you seen my date?" I asked playfully.

"No, sorry. I guess you'll just have to settle for me," he offered me his arm. I took it gladly. "You look beautiful, Alice," he whispered in my ear.

I blushed slightly. "You dress up pretty well, too, Jazz," I told him. He smiled back as he opened my door for me. "Thank you." He walked around to the driver's side and pulled out of my driveway.

The drive there seemed to take no time at all. Time just seemed to fly with Jasper. When we got to the outskirts of Port Angeles, Jasper pulled over.

"Jazz? What are you doing?" I asked, confused.

"Turn around," he told me. I looked at him strangely. He just smiled and motioned for me to turn around. I rolled my eyes but turned. I was surprised when Jasper put a piece of cloth over my eyes.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed.

"Shh! I'm just putting on a blindfold. I don't want you to see where we're going until we get there," he told me.

"Fine," I huffed. He finished tying it on, and started driving again. I sat there quietly until he stopped the car and turned it off. "Are we there?" I asked.

"Yup," he untied the blindfold and pulled it off. I looked up while my eyes adjusted and saw that we were at Bella Italia. I _loved_ Italian, and I had told Jazz that.

"Aw, Jazz," I turned and gave him a quick kiss before he got out of the car and came to open my door. I took his arm again and we walked inside.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the hostess said in a cheery voice.

"Table for two?" Jasper asked.

"Right this way," she led us to a ring of booths that were mostly empty. **(Hehe twilight reference. :) …sorry) **

"Your waitress will be right out to take you orders," she said, placing menus in front of us and then walking away.

I looked down at the menu, everything looked delicious. "What are you getting Jazz?" I asked, distracting him from the menu.

"A coke," he answered simply. I chuckled.

"I meant, what are you getting to eat," I rephrased.

"Oh. Umm… whatever you're getting," he said without looking up from the menu. I gave him a weird look. He glanced up and saw my face. "What?" he asked.

"Don't you have any preferences?" I questioned skeptically.

"Uh, not really. I'm perfectly content to get what you are getting," he smiled slightly. I just rolled my eyes and looked back at the menu. I ended up choosing the mushroom ravioli, **(AN- I didn't know what else to choose) **

We had a wonderful time at the restaurant. When we were done, and Jasper paid the bill, we decided to go for a walk on the beach.

It was a full moon so it reflected of the water beautifully. We held hands as we walked along the water. Jasper was holding my shoes since I couldn't walk on sand with heels. After a few minutes we found a washed up log that we walked over to and sat down. Jasper pulled me onto his lap.

"Thank you for a wonderful night, Jazz," I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Your more than welcome, Ali," he kissed my head. "You know, nothing can compare to your beauty," he told me. "That's one reason I've fallen in love you." I spun around and saw nothing but love and sincerity in his eyes. "Also, you're funny, smart, brave, willing to do anything, and basically the list goes on and on," he chuckled lightly. I couldn't say anything. "I love you, Alice," he looked me straight in the eyes.

I finally found my voice, "I love you, too, Jazz," I leaned down to kiss him.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

We pulled into my driveway at ten-thirty. I had told Jasper that this was my curfew, since he asked when it was.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said when he opened my door for me. I got out and gave him a hug.

"Okay," he leaned and gave me a quick but passionate kiss. "I love you," I said when we broke apart.

"Me too," he said, and then he walked over to his car and got in. He waved as he drove away and I waved back. I sighed happily as I walked into the house.

I was locking the door when I heard someone shout behind me, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" I turned around and saw a very angry, very drunk, Richard.

**AN- muahahahahahahahahaha another cliffy! i know you just love those. and FWI this time ill know to expect the death threats. **

**anywho...apparently i couldn't put it off any longer. the major chapter with everyone finding out is next. (And no, Thomas is not home. he's at a friends house.)**

**please review! XOXO (PS- im already working on the next chapter.)**


	14. through the tears

**AN- thanks for reviewing! and, your reviews were hystarical. im sorry, but i was laughing so loud...my sisters were shouting at me to shut up. lol, but thank you sooo much. :) :)**

**(I do not own twilight, :(**

_(Previously)_

I was locking the door when I heard someone shout behind me, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" I turned around and saw a very angry, very drunk, Richard.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Oh crap. He wasn't supposed to be home yet. I hadn't noticed his car in the driveway.

I can't believe I missed it.

"Richard," I said in as innocent a tone as I could manage. "What are you doing home? Aren't you supposed to be at Danny's-" he cut me off.

"I can be where I wanna be," he slurred. "But I saw you kissin' that guy out there. Watcha been doin together?" he stepped closer to me.

I was shocked. "N-nothing," I tried backing away but the door was right behind me.

"Mmm hmm. Sure. But I'm sure it ain't as good as me," he grabbed the top of my arm tightly, and squeezed.

"He's a million times the man you'll ever be!" I shouted on his face, and then squeezed past him. I ran into the kitchen. But he was to fast, he was right behind me.

"Get back here you little slut!" he hit my back and I fell forward. I just barely managed to catch myself before I hit the ground.

I felt a hand on my neck pull me up, and spin me around. "Why you wearin' such a slinky dress, _Alice_," he leered.

I just glared. I couldn't back away because he'd just grab me back again. "What do you want with me? I've done everything you've ever told me to do! What have I done to deserve this?" I screamed up at him.

He just looked at me like I'd just spoken a foreign language. "You know what, I think I should've gotten rid of you years ago. And I might do just that. But I wanna have a little fun first," he started walking towards me again.

My eyes widened. I backed away as quickly as I could. When I reached the stairs, however, I tripped.

Richard laughed his gravelly laugh. "Good. Makes it easier for me," he leaned down but I slipped away again. I heard him growl in frustration behind me. I ran back through the kitchen and grabbed the phone. On the way, my dress caught on the counter and ripped.

I turned around and saw Richard glaring at me from across the room. I felt my eyes widen in fear.

I had to call somebody. I started dialing 911, but Richard rammed into me and set me sprawling across the floor. My head banged into something hard, but I got up anyway.

I ran to the back door, threw it open, and ran outside where it was now pouring rain. I ran towards the forest where I hoped I could get some cover.

I was soaked through before I even crossed the yard.

Right before I reached the trees I felt rough arms tighten around my waist. Richard covered my mouth before I could scream.

"Now, we are going inside, and you will stop fighting," his gravelly voice whispered in my ear.

I kicked and thrashed my arms everywhere, but it was no good. He carried me inside, locked the door, and up to my room. He ripped my dress off and leaned down to me.

He moved his hand and I _screamed._ I probably busted my eardrum in the process but I didn't care. He was so shocked, that I was able to run back out of my room and downstairs.

I quickly grabbed the phoned and dialed 911.

"Hello? What is your emergency?" I heard the operator ask.

"HELP!" was all I managed before Richard came and grabbed the phone. He threw it into the other room. On his way over to me I saw a candle upturn. I watched in horror as the curtains right beside it Caught fire.

"You are one annoying little bastard," he punched me straight in the stomach. I was pretty sure he broke some ribs.

He lifted me up and literally threw me across the room. I felt some bones brake and my head crashed against what felt like the wall. I think I got glass in my leg, because that was bleeding like crazy.

"I should've _made_ your mother abort you! But I was blinded by _love_," he sneered, clearly unaware of the fire that had consumed the curtains over the window.

I didn't care anymore. I was in too much pain to notice, anyway.

"Love is a weakness! I've told you to never show weakness!" he was drunk and rambling. He wanted me dead. Well, he was close to getting his wish. I could feel my consciousness slipping away very quickly.

Right before I went under, I saw his shirt catch fire, and he started screaming.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

(Bella POV)

I was driving over to Alice's house to bring her her hoodie; she left it over at my house a few days ago and I just found it.

But turns out I would be unable to give it to her. As I turned onto her street I saw that there were ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks everywhere. And, her house was almost completely consumed by flames. I drove quickly up and got out of the car.

I looked around a spotted Charlie talking with Carlisle. I jogged up to them.

"What's going on?" I asked breathlessly.

"We're not sure Bells," Charlie said to me. "We got a call with Alice screaming for help. We were driving over, when we got a fire report for the same house. Firefighters are in there right now getting anyone who's in there out," he explained solemnly.

"Holy crap," I breathed. "Are they going to be okay?" I asked even though I knew they didn't know.

"We'll know soon, Bella," this time Carlisle answered. He glanced back over to the house. "Would you mind calling Jasper and the family, Bella?" I have to help check everyone out," I nodded as he walked away.

I got out my cell phone and called Jasper.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

I was sitting in my room staring at the ceiling when my phone rang. I answered on the second ring. "Hello?" I asked. There was a roaring on the other end.

"Jasper, it's Bella. I need you to get everyone over to Alice's house. It caught fire and we don't know what's going on. Either come here or go to the hospital," that explained the roaring. "I gotta go. They're pulling Alice out of the house now," she hung up.

I stood there for a minute taking this in. Once I got over the shock, I ran downstairs shouting, "Mom! We have to go, _NOW_!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After I hung up with Jasper I ran over as close as I could. There was caution tape everywhere, and officers were blocking people off. "Dad!" I called over to Charlie. He beckoned me over and I went p to him. Before either of us could say anything, Alice was brought past on a stretcher. I gasped. There was a cut on her leg that a doctor was trying to keep from bleeding. She had bruises and burns everywhere. And her leg stuck out at an odd angle.

I felt the tears come and Charlie wrapped his arms around me. I sobbed into his chest. Part of the reason I was crying was because of Alice's condition. But mostly it was because of the fact that I knew what caused this; Richard. And I could've stopped it.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

(Jasper POV)

We got to the hospital right after the ambulance did. And right after us Bella arrived with ears running quickly down her cheeks. Obviously she walked straight to Edward, who wrapped his arms around her.

"Bella, what happened?" Edward asked softly.

"I c-could've st-st-stopped it," she sobbed into his chest.

"You could not have known this was going to happen. Houses get caught on fire all the time," he comforted. She just shook her head into his chest.

I sighed and went to the waiting room. I sat down. Five minutes later I started pacing. A few minutes later I sat down again. It was like this for a while. Twice I went to go get coffee. Not that I could sleep anyway, but still.

After about half an hour, Thomas came into the room. He nodded in acknowledgement, and then went to go sit down.

Two and a half agonizing hours later, Carlisle came into the room. I was the first one to make it to him.

"Is she going to be alright?" I asked worriedly.

He sighed. "We're not one hundred percent sure yet. She has a broken leg, arm, and three broken ribs. She has a concussion. A very deep cut on her leg, a deep muscle bruise in the center of her chest, and numerous burns, bruises and cuts. A rib punctured her lung, and to top everything of she's got a 103.2 fever. We've done all we could. We fixed her lung, and bandaged her up, but she was beaten pretty thoroughly. One thing is for sure though; the fire didn't cause this. We don't know what happened," he shook his head. I couldn't stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes. My love. My Alice.

"I know what happened," Bella spoke up. Carlisle looked up at her. She took a deep breath and continued. "It was Richard. He's been abusing her since she was six years old," tears were sliding down her cheeks again.

"When did you figure this out?" Carlisle asked.

"About two weeks ago. She made me promise not to tell anyone so she wouldn't be taken away," she couldn't talk anymore, and buried her face in Edward's chest again. He, too, had tears pooling in his eyes.

"Can I go see her?" I asked thickly.

Carlisle hesitated but then nodded, "Okay. But only one at a time. She's still unconscious but I'm sure she'd appreciate the company," he put his hand on my shoulder and led me to her room.

I gasped when I saw her. She was covered in gauze and plaster. I went over to the chair beside her and sat down. The hand nearest me was unscathed so I grabbed it in mine. Carlisle left the room.

"Alice? I know you probably can't hear me but… I want you to know how sorry I am. I know you'll say that it's not my fault, but I feel like it is. I should've recognized the signs. And Alice? I love you. So, so much. Please get better. Please…" I couldn't talk anymore through the tears.

**AN- sooooo sad. and harsh. i know im cruel, but she will be.... well, you'll find out next chapter.**

**also... HAPPY ALMOST INDEPENDANCE DAY!!!! YAY--------------- unfortunately that means that i won't be able to update again until the end of the weekend... oh well, you can wait- muahahahaha**

**anywho, please review!!!!!! XOXO**


	15. delerium

**AN- i know it took me a while but here it is!!!! ch.15! **

**thank you so much for the reviews!!!! (I don't own twilight, steph meyer does.....she is soooooo lucky!!!!)**

(APOV)

Time seemed to pass strangely. I have no idea where I am, or even who I was.

* * *

(JPOV)

I was worried sick about her. She keeps screaming. Her fever was raging out of control. We have no idea if she's going to live. But she has to.

* * *

My mind kept pulling in the thoughts I knew I didn't want to see. But I had no strength to fight them away. My body was fighting a battle. A battle I knew I had to win.

* * *

I fell asleep in the chair next to her. The doctors are saying that her fever is going down but that she still has a lot of healing to do.

Every once in a while her eyelids will flutter but… nothing is for certain… yet.

* * *

I could feel myself screaming. Then I would feel terrible pain in my chest, so I screamed louder.

* * *

The doctors had to put her in a more private room. The sedatives were supposed to keep her fully unconscious. She wasn't supposed to be screaming like this. But she was.

* * *

My mind was all foggy. I didn't really know what was going on. I could see quick flashes of a green room before everything went dark again.

* * *

When the doctors moved Alice, they wouldn't let me back in to be with her. I guess Carlisle heard me shouting and told them that I was allowed in so they reluctantly agreed.

* * *

I always felt this comforting presence next to me. That kept away the worst of the memories. But for a while – It could've been hours, it could've been seconds, I didn't know – the angel presence wasn't there. That was a terrible time.

* * *

I could tell she was really struggling while I was gone. I got in there and she was literally shaking. But when I sat down and grabbed her hand, she calmed down again.

* * *

The bad memories went away…but the pain was still terrible. I felt like I was dying. I probably was, but…I hoped that if I did, Jasper would know how much I loved him. And I hoped that I would be allowed into heaven, after all I'd done.

* * *

I had been sitting by her side for two days now. Still no change, except that her fever died down dramatically. Carlisle said that this increased her chances.

* * *

I was finally able o get a little while of peace. I guess I was sleeping, but…who knew?

* * *

The doctors gave her an extra dose of sedatives for the pain and screaming. It was very hard seeing my Alice covered up in plaster, gauze and tubes.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**JPOV**

We had both been here for six days. That's when it happened.

* * *

After what felt like a million years, I finally found the muscles in my eyelids. I tried opening them but all they did was flutter at first. Then, they we finally open!

* * *

Her eyes only fluttered at first, so I didn't think much of it. But…they didn't stop. After a few minutes they were fully open.

* * *

The first thing I saw was Jasper sitting next to me. I smiled slightly, but my cheeks hurt so I couldn't smile wider. He smiled back, "How're you feeling?" he asked.

"Terrible," I tried to say, but it was barely more than a whisper. He just smiled wider, if that was even possible. Then he leaned in and kissed me softly. "I'll call in the doctor," he reached over and pressed a button.

"Hello?" the lady squawked.

"I'm in room 319. Alice Brandon just woke up," he said into a speaker.

"Oh my goodness!" she gasped. "I'll notify the doctor immediately. And she hung up. Was that the right term? I had no idea; my mind was still foggy from all the sedatives.

"The doctor's on her way," he told me.

"Okay," my voice was just slightly stronger. "Jazz?" I asked suddenly.

"Yeah?" his eyes never left mine.

"Will you kiss me again?" I asked.

His answer was to press his lips softly against mine again.

**AN- i know it's short, but it was only meant to be a short, heartfelt chapter. **

**please review!!!! XOXO**


	16. my heart belongs to you

**AN- im so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry i haven't updated in two weeks!!!!! **

**My Lame Excuses: 1) i was taking advantage of my social life (my friends seem to forget about me over the summer....noooooo, i am not a loser) 2) i was having MAJOR writers block. 3) i have recently went on vacation and it is hard to get typing time, **

**hanks for reviewing BTW!!!!! :) :) :)**

Ever since I woke up a week ago, the doctors have been fussing non-stop over me. I've been in pain, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it would be if they weren't giving me so much pain medicines. Unfortunately that also means that I've been sleeping a lot and can't spend as much time with Jasper.

I can't really eat with my lung, and ribs, so they have an IV attached to me. I am literally helpless.

A few days ago I learned the full extent of what Richard did to me. One of the things was a broken thigh, in two places. Which means that because of him, I have to go through physical therapy in a few weeks, when my leg heals.

Thomas comes to see me everyday after school, but Jasper is stubbornly refusing to go. So his teachers are giving his homework to Edward to bring it to him. My teachers, however, are excusing me from all work, "until such time as I was able to get put of this place and come back to school." All I thought as Mr. Greene said this was, _wow, teachers like to use complicated sentences. _

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Jasper had to go somewhere for someone, for some reason that I didn't know about. So here I am, staring at the ceiling, because here is nothing on TV. (Literally, it's all static because of a storm outside.)

I was trying to figure out a pattern in he ceiling when I heard a soft knock on the door. I looked over; it was Jasper. I smiled. He smiled back and sat down on the chair next to my bed.

"Hey, Alice," I noticed that he was holding a bag.

"Hi. What's in the bag?" I asked nodding towards it. His answer was to hand it to me. I raised my eyebrows and picked it up. Inside was a small box. I opened it, and gasped. Inside was the most beautiful necklace ever. It was a silver heart, with little diamonds on half of it. **(AN- link on profile) **I was speechless. I looked up at him. My mouth was open but I didn't say anything.

"It's symbolic. It's to represent my heart; which belongs to you. Forever," he smiled slightly, his eyes full of love.

"Oh Jazz… it's beautiful," I pulled it out of the box. "Will you put it on for me?" I asked.

His answer was to grab it from me and gently clasp it around my neck.

**AN- i know y'all wanna strangle me for the short chapter, but....like i said, i have writers block and it's VERY hard to write through it. BUT............i have just come up with an idea for the next chapter, (which will hopefully be a lot longer) and i know you will LOVE what i have planned. **

**please dont threaten to kill me. (even tho for some strange reason they make me laugh.........) on second thought you can threaten my life, it's kinda funny.....hehe lol, i'llstop rambling now.......**

**Please still review!!!! XOXO**


	17. insomnia

**AN- i know i know.....i am a terrible person. i have not updated in a month, and you probably hate me. dont worry i have ezxcuses so maybe you will hate me a little less. **

**A) i was on vacation; i had NO typing time. i only had time to check my e-mail and facebook. it sucked. (B) school just started. grr...... i have been busy with all the papers and crap. again....it sucked.**

**so please enjoy this wonderfully cute chapter, forgive its shortness.......... :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)**

.I looked over at the clock, **1:30**. I sighed. I haven't been able to sleep at all the past few nights. Sure I've dosed off a little but that's been it. I sighed again and sat up in bed.

I looked around the room. The walls were a light purple color. The comforter was a dark, rich reddish-purple. For the past few weeks I have been staying here, at Jasper's house. That's right, as soon as I was released from the hospital Carlisle and Esme allowed; no _forced_, me to come here. Well, I guess it doesn't count as forcing me to come if I was all too willing. Whatever.

Three weeks ago I started physical therapy for my leg. It was awful. At first I could barely even stand up. But, within two weeks I was walking like a pro. The reason may have been just because I'm stubborn, but there was more to it. I learned that Richard had made a full recovery. No one told me because they didn't want to ruin my healing process.

Right now, however he was in a holding cell at Forks' police station. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Tomorrow, or rather, later today, was the hearing. I was SO nervous. I realized that I wasn't going to get anymore sleep so I got out of bed and put on my robe. (Yes, it was the one that matched Bella's and Rose's) **(AN- HEHE! You thought I forgot about those didn't you???????) **I walked over and opened the door. The hall was almost pitch black but that didn't bother me. I've become an expert at walking in the dark.

After a few minutes of mindless wandering I found myself in front of Jasper's room. I smiled slightly at the irony of it. I pushed it open a crack to see him sleeping soundly on his bed. My smile grew and I crept in. I quietly shut the door and tiptoed over to his bed. After a few seconds of deliberation I climbed into the bed next to him.

I felt him stir next to me. I looked over to see him looking at me, wide-awake.

"Hi," I whispered. He smiled and wrapped his arm around me.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"How did you know I was coming in here?" I asked.

"I didn't. I heard you open the door," he smiled at my incredulous look. "I have really good hearing," he smiled down at me.

"Sorry I woke you up," I apologized.

"Alice what's wrong?" he asked me. Dang, Jazzy knew me so well.

"Tomorrow," was all I said.

He tightened his arms around me, "It'll be okay," he comforted me.

"But what if it isn't?" I looked into his gorgeous blue eyes.

"Alice," he sighed. "It will be," he said firmly. And I believed him. Because I would follow Jasper to the end of this earth and back again. And I knew he would do the same.

I nodded and took a deep breath, "okay, " I breathed.

He leaned over and pressed his lips softly to mine, "Get some sleep Alice," he whispered to me. I nodded and not long afterward I fell into a deep sleep.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

(Jasper POV)

I stayed awake for a little longer watching her sleep. I noticed the dark circles under her eyes. I sighed. She hasn't been able to sleep for the past few weeks. So obviously she was drinking a lot of coffee. But, so much caffeine wasn't good for such a small person; it made her _extremely _hyper. She was bouncing off the walls like you couldn't imagine. I smiled slightly and fell asleep with it still planted on my face.

**AN- AWWWWW!!! how cute. i know its short, but i have this and another story to update, BUT!!!! the next chapter is underway and i hope to get it in tomorrow or the next day.**

**sadly, however, our wonderful story here is drawing to a close, :( :( :( :( however, there WILL be a sequel; and that is the reason that richard is still alive, MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! (trust me......i WANTED to kill him......a lot. but he's alive............stay tuned to find out what happens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**please review!!!!!! XOXO**


	18. verdict

**AN- i'm really really really really sorry for the delay!!! in my defense i would have had it up a week ago BUT my internet modem got struck by lightning and it blew out, SO i would have had it up earlier but i couldn't. **

**ao im really sorry for the delay, and hee is the chapter where we finally see justice!!!!!!**

I stood outside the courtroom; everyone was inside except Jasper, who stubbornly refused to leave. They kept trying to make him go in but my lawyer, or rather Carlisle's lawyer, Jennifer Marsh, told them to let him stay.

I was _extremely_ nervous. I started to fix my collar – for the thirty-seventh time – but Jasper grabbed my hand to stop me. He walked in front of me and put his hands on either side of my face, pinning me to the wall, "What's wrong?" he asked, quietly since we weren't the only ones in the room.

"I don't know," I told him, which wasn't entirely a lie. "It's just…what if something goes horribly horribly wrong and its all my fault because I didn't say or do anything right and – " Jasper put his hand over my mouth because I was talking a million miles per second.

"Alice, calm down," he said soothingly. I took a deep breath through my nose. "There," he let me go. "Nothing is going to go wrong. Everything is pointing to him. You have nothing to worry about, okay?" I nodded.

"Okay," I took another, but much deeper, breath to calm myself. He leaned in and gave me a soft kiss.

I kissed him back but we were interrupted when the officer said, "Alright lovebirds break it up. You," he pointed at Jasper, "need to get in the courtroom, we're about to start."

"Yes, sir," I heard his Texas accent slip through just then. He gave me a quick smile before he went in the room. I looked up and saw that it was Charlie standing in front of me.

"You okay, sweetie?" he asked me.

I nodded, "I'm just a little nervous, Charlie," I told him.

"There's nothing to be nervous about, Alice. You'll be fine," he smiled and I gave him a quick hug. He seemed startled at first, but returned the hug. When he let go, he walked over to the door and guided me to my seat at the front of the room. I sat down next to Ms. March, or Jennifer as she told me to call her; I think to help me not to be so scared.

"Hello, Alice. How are you feeling?" she asked me kindly.

I shrugged. "Okay I guess. A little nervous," I told her.

She put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Just tell the truth. Everything points against him. Okay?" she smiled softly. I smiled back and nodded. She had a kind face, if a little stern, and she had dark, thick, curly hair.

Then I heard the door open. I turned around and saw the person I never wanted to see again in my life, Richard. He had two officers by him, and walking right in front was his lawyer, a beefy-looking guy in a black suit. But the three other people couldn't distract from the murderous look on Richards face. He looked a little crazy, and he was wearing a dark-blue jumpsuit, that was the required attire for the jail's occupants.

Once they were seated Richard turned slightly in his chair and looked me in the eye. Though I was terrified I looked right back at him with a look of deepest loathing on my face. He glared right back at me. No one noticed for a full five minutes, until they saw us, unblinking staring at each other. Charlie came over and stood in between us making us loose eye contact. I took a deep shaky breath and turned the other way around. I immediately saw Jasper right behind me. I smiled sadly and reached out my hand. He grabbed it and squeezed it lightly. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," I whispered just as the guy announced,

"All rise for Judge Herald." We all stood. A man that looked like he was in his sixties walked through the door at the front of the room and sat. We all followed suit.

"We are all here for the hearing on Richard Anthony Brandon, accused of rape, child abuse, and attempted murder. Mr. Albertson, would you please start?" he indicated Richard's lawyer who stood up. **(AN- keep in mind that I really have no idea how court sessions work, so bear with me)**

"Thank you, your honor. I would like to say that my client is pleading not guilty. He says that he was framed and that he never did any of those things for which he is being charged for," he told the judge.

"Very well, you may begin your case," he replied.

"Thank you. I would first like to call my client to the stand," he motioned for Richard to come to the stand.

And that's how everything went. Richard told a bunch of bullshit to the judges and said, despite being sworn in on the bible, that he was innocent, he never did anything, the fire was an accident, and I got my injuries from falling down the stairs.

Form the look on his face; Judge Herald didn't buy any of his stories.

"Any more questions?" he asked the lawyers.

Jennifer stood up, "I have a few questions your honor." He motioned for her to continue and she went to the front of the room.

"Mr. Brandon, you claim that you're innocent, correct?" she clarified.

"Yes," he said, rather rudely.

"Very well. If my client fell down the stairs how do you explain the cuts?" she had gained ferocity in her voice that I hadn't heard before.

"There was glass on the stairs," he replied curtly. Jennifer nodded.

"Mr. Brandon, there was a deep muscle bruise in the center of her chest that is still slightly there, and it is in the same shape and size of your fist. How do you explain that?" though he didn't show anything, I could tell that he was getting unsettled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said shortly.

"I'm sure you don't," heavy sarcasm. "Mr. Brandon, there is no evidence to suggest that she merely fell down the stairs. She used to be a dancer, is that correct?"

"It is," he grumbled.

"Than you should know that most dancers have extreme balance, and Alice's past points to that fact. There were no traces of liquids on those stairs, or anything else that may have tripped her. So everything seems to point that she was _pushed_ down the stairs. **(AN- dont critisize) **What do you have to say about that?" he remained stubbornly silent. "No further questions for him, your honor. However I would like to ask my client to the stand," he nodded and Richard left. I stood up and passed Richard on my way up. I glared as I passed. He returned the favor.

I got up to the stand and was sworn in. I sat down.

"Ms. Brandon would you please tell everyone what happened that night a few weeks ago?" Jennifer asked me. I took a deep breath and nodded.

It took me a few seconds to find my voice, but when I did, I found myself really getting into my story. I wanted everyone to know what kind of a person Richard was. The story took me about twenty minutes to finish. But when I did the room was as quiet as a grave.

"Thank you, Ms. Brandon. Could you explain what Richard would do in the night?" I closed my eyes and felt a single tear escape as I remembered that night after the first time I went to Jasper's house. I opened my eyes.

This story seemed, if possible, even worse than the first one. When I finished a few people had tears in their eyes, even Jasper.

Jennifer took a deep breath, "thank you, Alice. No further questions your honor."

Judge Herald looked at Mr. Albertson. He shook his head and I got up to go sit down, Jenn put her arm around me as we went to our table.

"Alright. Fifteen minute recess," he slammed his gavel down and we stood up and went to a back room that was designated for my party. I sat down on one of the armchairs and put my head in my hands. I felt a strong arm around me and I leaned into Jasper's side.

"That was hard," I whispered.

"I know," he replied.

"If it helps Alice, I think that you really upped your chances," I looked up at Jennifer. "I've worked with Herald before, no more that one occasion, and I could tell that he was displeased with your father's story," she told me.

"Please. Don't call him my father," I felt a great surge of hatred towards him.

She nodded understandingly.

After a few minutes everyone else came in. Bella was the last person in, and when she saw me, she came over quickly and stuffed a honey bun in my hand.

"What's this?" I asked her.

"Wow, Alice. That's sad, I thought you already knew how to read. Guess I was mistaken," I slapped her on the arm. "Ow. Anyway, Ms. Violent, you need to eat something since you barely touched your breakfast," I scowled playfully at her but took a bite.

"You are a sad, strange little girl," I told Bella.

All she said in reply was, "Don't talk with your mouthful, Alice," with a big goofy smile on her face.

Too soon, it was time to go back into the courtroom. **(AN- hehe, it kind of rhymes)**

The lawyers both interrogated more people, including, Mr. Greene – my principal, Bella, Jasper, Carlisle, and Thomas – that one was difficult but he got through in the end.

"We will take another short recess while the jury makes their verdict," Judge Herald announced to the room.

This recess seemed to take a million times longer than the last one, even though it was really shorter.

"The Jury has reached a verdict," Judge Herald told everyone.

**AN- MUAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!! CLIFFY!!!!!!! i am so evil. but i have the next chapter ready and it will be up tomorrow. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)**

**but, unfortunately, our wonderful little story is drawing to a close, and the next chapter will be the final in Things Happen For A Reason. (or is it??????) muahahaha!**

**please review!!!!! XOXOXOXO**


	19. things happen for a reason

**AN - so i was going to make you all wait until i got more reviews to update BUT i figured that i tortured you enough without updating in forever. so here my dear readers is the final chapter in Things Happen For A Reason**

**i don't own twilight but i wish i owned jasper because he is super awesome and REALLY HHHHOOOOTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**onto the show!!!!!!!!!**

**Previously**

_This recess seemed to take a million times longer than the last one, even though it was really shorter._

"_The Jury has reached a verdict," Judge Herald told everyone._

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"The Jury has reached a verdict," Judge Herald told everyone. You could practically feel the tension in the air.

"Mr. Brandon you are convicted _guilty _of all charges. I sentence you to thirty years in jail, and two hundred hours of community service," he slammed down his gavel and Richard was led out of the room. I resisted the urge to cheer out loud.

Right before they exited, I saw him glare at me. I just smiled smugly back at him before he was led out.

I got up and met my family outside the room.

Here, I was finally able to cheer and celebrate with my family. We had made our way outside, and were heading to the car, by the time Jasper finally got to me. He grabbed my arm and held me back. He pulled me close to him and pulled me in for a long, passionate kiss.

When he pulled away, he whispered in my ear, "Let's go home."

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

At the Cullen house we were having a little party. Nothing big, it was just us – Bella, Jasper, Esme, Thomas, Rosalie, Emmett, Carlisle, Edward, and me. Carlisle ordered pizza and we had soda and ice cream.

We went swimming and had a blast. It was the most fun I've had in ages.

We all finally went to bed at about two in the morning. Considering that we had gotten up early the previous morning, we were all pretty tired.

When I got to my room I was really happy. Thomas got a letter in the mail that said he'd been accepted to the University of Washington, on a full football scholarship. Richard was in jail until I was forty-six, so I didn't have to worry about him.

I sighed; I couldn't sleep. Then I thought of an idea. I smiled to myself and put on my slippers. I crept down the hall and into Jasper's room. Just like last night, I crawled into bed with him. "Knock, knock," I whispered in his ear. He turned around and captured me in his grasp.

"Hello, beautiful," he whispered back.

"I couldn't sleep again," I told him.

"Did you even try?" even though it was dark I could hear the smile in his voice.

I pretended to think about it, "no, not really." He chuckled.

"You know your safe here, right?" he asked me.

"Yes. I do. And you're the reason for that. Thank you."

"Any time, darling," he slipped his southern accent into the line.

"I love your accent. It's one of the many reasons I love you," I told him snuggling in closer to his side.

"I love you, too," he squeezed me lightly. It was a few minutes before I said anything else.

"Jasper?" I asked suddenly.

"Hmm?" he replied groggily.

"Why do you think my mom had to die? If she didn't, my life would have been a hundred times happier," I bit my bottom lip.

"I don't know. It doesn't seem quite fair, but I do know that if it didn't happen, you never would have moved here and I never would have met you. So I guess you could say, things happen for a reason."

I smiled and pulled him in for a kiss that seemed to last for an eternity.

**_THE END_****………….(for now!!!!)**

**AN- so i am really sad because this is the end. but it was time for it to draw to a close.**

**and i know that you guys are probably mad at me for not killing richard. i have a reason for this. i was going to kill him, but i realized.......i wanted a sequel. im not sure when i will post it because i haven't even started it yet. i know whats going to happen.....i just dont know when. **

**and just so you know i was and am thankful for every review and view. i love you guys!!!!!!!!**

**but of course.................**

**please review!!!!!! XOXO **

**(am i the only one who noticed that i do that at the end of every chapter????) XOXO**


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